SURABAYA: USG TRAINING FOR POLICE, COURTS, AND NGOS RESULTS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SURABAYA 000034 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/MTS, EAP/GTIP, EAP/RSP, DS/IP/EAP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON PHUM PGOV ELAB KWMN SMIG ASEC ID SUBJECT: SURABAYA: USG TRAINING FOR POLICE, COURTS, AND NGOS RESULTS IN HUMAN TRAFFICKING ARRESTS REF: a) SURABAYA 33, B) Operation Triple X Case File No. V-2005-00163 (notal) SURABAYA 00000034 001.2 OF 002 This message is sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On September 3, Surabaya police arrested two suspects for attempting to traffic seven women from Indonesia to Malaysia. The victims were handed over to an International Organization of Migration (IOM)-sponsored NDO KPPD Samitra Abhaya and returned to their villages. The Surabaya parliament and Surabaya People Empowerment Board (Bapemas) provided funding and helped with the victims' repatriation. These arrests and subsequent repatriations are the direct result of US counter-trafficking support for Indonesia on three key fronts: legislative, investigative and training support for NGOs. These arrests marks the first time all three of these efforts have been so clearly tied to a single trafficking case. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) Acting on information provided initially by a local NGO to ConGen Surabaya in April 2007, local authorities initiated an investigation into suspected suppliers of women and children for sex tourism in known prostitution areas of Surabaya. After a five-month investigation, on September 3, police arrested two suspects, Badri Saiman and Slamet Riyadi, when they attempted to board a ferry bound for the island of Kalimantan with seven trafficking victims. Under interrogation, the traffickers described an intricate network of recruitment agencies throughout East Java, Kalimantan, and Sarawak, Malaysia. SURABAYA: Source, Destination, Transit -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The port city of Surabaya has gained a well-deserved reputation as a source, transit, and destination location for women and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation, debt bondage, and forced labor. According to local authorities and NGOs, a significant number of Indonesian women, who are recruited by unlicensed manpower and recruitment agencies, are sent overseas each year to work as domestic servants and subjected to exploitation and conditions of involuntary servitude in Malaysia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Syria, Kuwait, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Many women are forced into prostitution or debt bondage. ¶4. (SBU) Many unauthorized recruitment agencies are involved in trafficking to various degrees, and some licensed recruitment/travel agencies have been implicated in trafficking. Indonesians are especially vulnerable to human traffickers because of poverty, lack of education, and limited job opportunities. Many Surabaya-based recruitment and travel agencies also specialize in counterfeit document production. (Note: Operation triple X to date has resulted in raids on 33 criminal enterprises producing fraudulent documents, with 120 arrests. End note). Training Camps -------------- ¶5. (SBU) According to a local police source, criminal agencies send prospective migrant workers to "training camps" for several months. Badir Saiman and Slamet Riyadi described the Surabaya training camp as homes scattered throughout Surabaya where trafficking victims are "stored" temporarily, for up to three months. During this time, the women are locked in and prohibited from contact with their families. The victims receive training in cleaning, cooking, and other basic household duties, as well as receiving language lessons. Meanwhile, the traffickers prepare counterfeit documents and make arrangements to transfer the victims out of the country. USG Training and Support -------------- ¶6. (SBU) USG training and support was critical to this effort. The local police charged both suspects under the newly enacted Trafficking in Persons Law, which took effect March 2007. This anti-Human Trafficking legislation was drafted with the help of the Assistant United States Attorney assigned to AmEmbassy Jakarta and with the support of both US and local law enforcement and technical advisors, as well as with technical support by USG-government funded NGOs. The Surabaya Police received training from the U.S. International Criminal Investigation Training (ICITAP) Trafficking in Persons (TIP) program. Over the past two years, ICITAP has run four training programs for the Surabaya police force and local NGOs. Trained in the need for assistance for victims, after arresting the traffickers, the police immediately contacted a local NGO to SURABAYA 00000034 002.2 OF 002 arrange assistance for the seven victims. This local NGO, which specialized in helping the victims of trafficking, is itself supported by IOM and funded in part by the United States. We anticipate similar cooperative efforts between local law enforcement and the NGO community to combat trafficking in the future. MCCLELLAND