TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - National police have uncovered a case of human trafficking disguised as student internships in Germany through the Ferein Job program. The police Director of the General Crimes Investigation Unit, Brig. Gen. Djuhandhani Rahardjo Puro, said the case was based on the reports from four students to the Indonesian Embassy in Germany.

“After an in-depth investigation, the Indonesian Embassy found out that this program was run by 33 universities in Indonesia,” Djuhandhani said in an official statement on Wednesday, March 20. A total of 1,047 students were distributed among three employment agencies in Germany.

Police have named five people as suspects in the case, all of whom are Indonesian citizens. “Two of them are in Germany,” said Djuhandhani.

The National Police Headquarters has been working with the international relations division and the Indonesian Embassy in Germany to deal with the two suspects in Germany.

The three suspects are SS (male) 65 years old, AJ (female) 52 years old, MZ (male) 60 years old. Meanwhile, the two suspects in Germany are ER alias EW (female) 39 years old, and A alias AE (female) 37 years old.

They are subject to Article 81 of Law No. 17 of 2017 on the protection of Indonesian migrant workers, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and a fine of Rp15 billion. There are also additional criminal articles, namely revocation of business licenses, confiscation of assets resulting from criminal acts, revocation of legal entity status, dismissal of management, and a prohibition for the company involved, PT.SHB, to conduct business in the same field.

The Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) clarified that the Ferienjob program is not part of the government’s Independent Learning - Independent Campus (MBKM) program. The mechanism for overseas apprenticeship programs must go through a proposal from the Indonesian Embassy or the relevant embassy to issue an endorsement letter for the program.

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