Police Attache for Germany Reports on Crimes Experienced by Indonesian Students

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Police Attache for Germany Police Senior Superintendent Shinto Silitonga revealed several legal issues experienced by Indonesian students that have unfolded during the first semester of 2023.

Shinto detailed the prominent cybercrime issue experienced by a total of 530 people, primarily Indonesian nationals across Germany who had fallen victim to ticket hunters who sold airplane tickets at substantially discounted rates. "However, the tickets turned out to be non-issuable," said Shinto. Collectively, the loss amounted to Rp10.5 billion.

Another crime found was the distribution of child pornography materials in Aachen, the depiction of an adolescent public figure in explicit content through an application and distributing it on social media, and cases of suicides among students and au pairs in southern Germany.

"Another legal issue is occurrences of intolerant group movements that targeted new students for clandestine and systematic recruitment," said Shinto to Tempo via phone call.

According to Shinto, an organization such as the Indonesian Student Association (PPI) is pivotal to anticipating the legal problems faced by Indonesian students in Germany. "PPI could facilitate new students to communicate, consult, and together, find a solution to forestall the impact of the aforementioned issues," said Shinto. "New students are still experiencing culture shock." 

Meanwhile, Coordinator of Protocol and Consular Function Satriyo Pringgodhani said that new students in Germany need to fill out the form in the Lapor Diri application to assist the embassy in tracking their existence in Germany.

Furthermore, the Education and Cultural Attaché Andi Marwan said that Indonesian students in Germany are a human resource asset and investment for future development in Indonesia. 

"Therefore, it is critical to continue to safeguard these students to avoid legal problems and finish their studies," Marwan concluded.

AYU CIPTA

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