Responding to Alleged Tortured Migrant Worker in Saudi Arabia, BP2MI Vows to Eradicate Human Trafficking

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Board (BP2MI) responded to the TikTok video of a migrant worker from NTT claiming she was tortured by her employer in Saudi Arabia. The protection board promised to eradicate the mafias involved in human trafficking.

The migrant worker in this case is Andi Darmawati, a woman from Marapokot Village, NTT. Darma, through her TikTok @darmawaty9708, asked to be rescued from her abusive employer.

“I was threatened, my wage will be held if I ever speak up. I will not go back to Indonesia before my wages are all paid off,” she stated in the 5-minute-long video.

Darmawati said she was kicked, hit, and threatened by her employer’s kid. “I’m grateful to be able to speak through this phone,” she said.

The head of BP2MI Benny Rhamdani mentioned that his agency has understood the modus operandi of human traffickers. Hence, he said on Tuesday that eradicating human trafficking mafias is “not a difficult work”.

Benny confirmed that the migrant worker in this case departed to Saudi Arabia through an unofficial channel. “She’s not registered, so it is highly likely that her placement was not official,” he said.

BP2MI, he claimed, has known which regions are often targeted by human traffickers. Those regions are NTT, NTB, and West Java, especially Indramayu.

“So we know already, for example, [migrant workers] from NTT would be placed in Malaysia, or NTB, aside from Malaysia, they would often be placed in the Middle East,” he said.

Benny also claimed that the protection agency knows how the human traffickers mobilize. However, he admitted that mapping their mobilization is not enough. Civil state apparatus must not be involved in human trafficking, he said.

YOHANES MAHARSO | NABIILA AZZAHRA A. | BAGUS PRIBADI

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