Police in West Java have arrested three people in connection with what they allege to be a human trafficking ring involving dozens of young Indonesian women (some underage) being sent to China on promises of high paying jobs or marrying well-off Chinese men but instead being forced into hard labor.
The West Java police chief said they had arrested a Chinese citizen, identified by his initials GSC, for masterminding the human trafficking ring as well as two of his recruits — another Chinese citizen identified as TDD and an Indonesian citizen identified as YH.
“GSC aka AKI was the intermediary for the Chinese men there (in China). His modus operandi was to promise the victims they would be married to a man from China and given a nice life,” West Java Police Chief Agung Budi Maryoto told reporters at a press conference yesterday as quoted by Kompas.
Agung said that GSC got both TDD and YH on board with his criminal enterprise and that the two were tasked with finding potential victims and approaching their parents with promises that their daughters would be married to well-to-do Chinese men and they would be given well paid jobs as “cultural ambassadors”.
“When the victim’s parents were tempted, the perpetrator came to ask for the signature of their consent and the parents were given IDR10 million (US$700) each,” Agung said.
The victims were then taken to stay at an apartment in Jakarta temporarily while the traffickers prepared for their shipment to China. They would also meet their would-be husbands from China there. After their travel documents were completed they were put on a plane.
But police say that the women were quickly met with a harsh reality upon arriving at their new homes in China. Many of them found that their new husbands would restrict their movements, force them into work at places like plantations and even sell them to other men.
The trafficking network was uncovered when the police get a report from the family of one of the victims, a 16-year-old identified as Y, who managed to escape from the criminals.
In total, police said they are aware of 12 victims, including three who are underage like Y. The women came from parts of West Java, Central Java and Banten.
Agung said the West Java Police were attempting to repatriate all of the victims by coordinating with Interpol and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but said that the fact the victims were legally married to Chinese citizens complicated matters. Agung said they would work with the Indonesian Embassy in China to have the women classified as victims of human trafficking. The police chief said that five of them had already been rescued but there could be more victims they are not yet aware of.
The suspects will be charged with violating Indonesia’s laws on human trafficking, violations of which carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in jail.
