A video of 25 Balinese men reportedly stranded in Turkey went viral yesterday on social media, with an official suggesting that they were victims of labor exploitation.
“We have verified [the video]. There are 25 Balinese people who were left abandoned in Turkey,” said Bali Migrant Workers Protection Agency head Wiam Satriawan yesterday.
According to reports, the 15-second video showed a Balinese man who was part of the group lamenting their ordeal while carrying his luggage. Speaking in Balinese, the man asked to be returned home, adding that they were all being treated like homeless people.
The Bali Police had received a report about the group on Feb. 22, and it was alleged that all 25 (all of whom are male) in the video were victims of human trafficking practices.
The reports indicated that an Indonesian employment agent under the initials KPR, as well as a foreign agent with the initials SARR, as the alleged guilty parties.
According to Wiam, the Balinese people in the video were not recorded as migrant workers based on the agency’s data. An investigation found that they departed to Turkey on holiday visas, and yet were promised by an unnamed agent that they would be able to work there.
Local outlets reported that the 25 were later placed in a homestay in Turkey.
Wiam said that he had reached out to Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to find solutions for the stranded Indonesians.
Furthermore, Wiam lamented the situation as this MO has played out several times before.
“They must understand that you cannot work on a holiday visa. This sort of thing happens too often and many people do not seem to comprehend it,” he said.
Separately, I Putu Pastika Adnyana, a legal representation of one of the victims, said that his client forked out IDR25 million (US$1,750) to the agency, who promised him a housekeeping job and apartment housing in Turkey in return.
Putu said that the initial agreement showed that his client was supposed to be granted a work visa, and he was not aware that he had a holiday visa when he left Indonesia.
After arriving in Turkey, Putu’s client and others were allowed to rest for only one night before being sent to work at nightclubs. They were also crammed into shabby living quarters, in which they had to take turns sleeping in beds.
