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DE RUEHJA #0698/01 0710205
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
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UNCLAS JAKARTA 000698 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, EAP/RSP 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB
SUBJECT:  INDONESIA ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP) 
REPORT, March 2005 to March 2006 (PART 1 OF 4) 
 
REF: A. STATE 17811 
     ¶B. 06 JAKARTA 13324 
     ¶C. 06 JAKARTA 2849 
     ¶D. 05 JAKARTA 12001 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Indonesia remained a major sending country for 
international trafficking in persons (TIP) and faced a very 
significant internal trafficking problem.  Indonesia was 
also a receiving country for trafficked prostitutes, though 
their numbers were very small relative to Indonesian 
victims.  The Government of Indonesia (GOI) recognized 
trafficking as a crime and a serious national issue, and 
took significant strides this year in law enforcement, 
against corruption-related complicity, and by completing a 
final draft in February 2007 of a strong, comprehensive 
anti-trafficking bill. Indonesia has not, however, met 
minimal TIP standards under U.S. law. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Indonesia achieved modest to significant progress 
in combating trafficking in specific areas over the past 
year, with strong political will evident at top levels of 
government and at many local levels.  The House of 
Representatives (DPR) completed the final draft in February 
2007 on a strong comprehensive anti-trafficking bill, which 
is scheduled for consideration by the full House and likely 
passage on March 20, 2007.  This bill is expected to give 
law enforcement the clear mandate needed to go after all 
forms of trafficking, including debt bondage and sexual 
exploitation.  The Yudhoyono administrationQs political 
will to eliminate trafficking was demonstrated in the past 
year.  In August 2006, President Yudhoyono issued a 
presidential decree on reform policy on placement and 
protection system of Indonesian migrant workers to provide 
more comprehensive protection of migrant workers and better 
coordination among agencies.  The President furthermore has 
appointed senior level officials in key positions with 
clear instructions to eliminate trafficking, resulting in 
noticeable progress. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Law enforcement against traffickers increased in 
2006 over 2005, with arrests up 29 percent from 110 to 142, 
prosecutions up 87 percent from 30 to 56, and convictions 
up 112 percent from 17 to 36.  The average sentence in 
these cases was 54 months in prison compared to 30 months 
in 2005, a 55 percent increase. The government trained over 
a thousand law enforcement officials on fighting 
trafficking, oftentimes in inter-agency courses also 
attended by NGOs. The numbers of special anti-trafficking 
police and prosecutors increased.  The National Plan of 
Action (NPA) bore fruit in more effective national 
coordination. As President YudhoyonoQs clear stance on 
clean government filtered down this year through the ranks, 
corrupt officials complicit in trafficking have been fired, 
prosecuted or transferred, an opening salvo against 
official impunity. Cooperation among various government 
offices and international NGOs at Indonesian diplomatic 
missions in key sending areas resulted in an increase of 
rescued victims, and more humane repatriation. Ministry of 
Manpower and national police took initial steps to 
cooperate in providing protection of trafficked migrant 
workers by signing a February 2007 MOU which provides for 
joint enforcement at all transit airports and ports.  Under 
the 2006 Presidential migrant worker protection decree, an 
agency to place and protect Indonesian migrant workers 
began operating in early 2007 with an initial inter-agency 
meeting and public policy statements promising to protect 
workers from exploitation.  Under MOUs with international 
donors, the GOI began funding this year the psychological 
rehabilitation of trafficking victims, a third or more of 
 
the cost of their medical treatment, and health services in 
Malaysia, in addition to the law enforcement costs of 
dozens of police investigators and prosecutors dedicated to 
trafficking at the national level, as well as a significant 
increase in local anti-trafficking police units across the 
country. The number of womenQs police desks helping victims 
skyrocketed to 280 in 2006, while national trafficking 
police investigators nearly doubled to 20. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Significant progress in a comprehensive and 
coordinated attack on trafficking took place at the 
provincial and local levels as NPA local task forces took 
root in communities across the country, 17 at last count. 
Local task forces resulted in good cooperation among law 
enforcement agencies, social service providers and NGOs in 
many communities as these task forces met frequently. Some 
provincial governments contributed funding to anti- 
trafficking efforts and also passed local laws to protect 
citizens from trafficking, not waiting for the passage of 
national legislation.  These efforts took place both under 
the leadership of the national Ministry of WomenQs 
Empowerment and spontaneously at the local levels due to 
grassroots civil society campaigns.  Brisk media coverage 
of trafficking continued, led by both government and NGO 
campaigns.  The GOI made good progress in sheltering 
victims abroad, repatriating victims and expanding victim 
services for both externally and internally trafficked 
persons.  A fourth integrated medical recovery center 
opened to treat victims. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Indonesia made limited or no headway on other 
difficult anti-trafficking steps. Illegal involvement of 
individual security force members and corrupt officials in 
prostitution linked to trafficking remained unchecked. 
Progress is just beginning to curb corruption that allows 
Indonesians to be easily trafficked abroad, last yearQs 
efforts focusing on children and to a lesser extent on 
women.  While the Ministry of Manpower continued crackdowns 
on illegal activities of migrant manpower agencies, there 
was no official recognition of the reality that IndonesiaQs 
migrant worker system does not protect workers from 
exploitation, debt bondage and other abuses.  The numbers 
of cases of severe abuse of trafficked victims overseas, 
particularly those in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, remained 
alarming.  An MOU with Malaysia signed in May 2006 ceded 
some basic workersQ rights to employers making it easier 
for Indonesians to be trapped in human bondage. Government 
spending on trafficking is far from covering minimal needs, 
and there is an urgent need for the government to take over 
services now being funded by foreign governments and 
international NGOs. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Within the context of the country's emerging 
democracy, Indonesia's anti-trafficking commitment faced 
the same serious constraints affecting other issues of 
national importance:  endemic corruption, the weakness of 
government structures and law enforcement at all levels, 
limited public budgets, poverty, a weak public education 
system, and competing priorities from other urgent issues. 
Nevertheless, Indonesia made some significant gains in the 
fight against trafficking in persons. Indonesia continued 
to welcome and cooperate with international anti- 
Trafficking assistance, and anti-trafficking partnership 
with the U.S. Mission and U.S. grantees remained strong. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Indonesia has made important strides in 
trafficking, all the more so if the anti-trafficking bill 
passes in March 2007, but will still need to address some 
major hurdles: 
 
--Implementation of the anti-trafficking law, which will 
require both continued political will and socializing the 
law among law enforcement officials and civil society. 
 
Indonesia will need continued international support in this 
effort. 
--Greatly accelerated efforts to combat the corruption that 
feeds trafficking, particularly among law enforcement 
officials, including the military and ministry of manpower 
officials. 
--Increased GOI funding for law enforcement against 
traffickers and for rescue, recovery and reintegration of 
victims. At the same time, this is a great financial burden 
for a country struggling with so many other pressing 
issues.  International support will be required for the 
next few years to allow the GOI time to budget for these 
needs. 
--A migrant manpower recruitment and placement system that 
protects and benefits the workers rather than exploiting 
them to the benefit of the manpower agencies and employers. 
--Much greater awareness of the trafficking problem and 
cooperation in combating it by a few receiving countries 
which account for the vast majority of human bondage of 
Indonesians. 
--More exploration of the issue of debt bondage by domestic 
workers within Indonesia, particularly children, and 
enforcement of existing laws to protect those workers. End 
Summary. 
 
------- 
SOURCES 
------- 
 
¶8.  (U) The U.S. Mission in Indonesia contacted and 
received information from many GOI sources specifically for 
the preparation of this report, including:  the People's 
Welfare Coordinating Ministry, the Women's Empowerment 
Ministry (hereinafter the Women's Ministry), the National 
Police (POLRI), the Attorney General's Office (AGO), the 
Manpower and Transmigration Ministry (the Manpower 
Ministry), and a number of local government offices, 
including in East Java and North Sumatra. Valuable 
information came from international and domestic NGOs, 
including the International Catholic Migration Commission 
(ICMC), the American Center for International Labor 
Solidarity (ACILS), Save the Children-USA, and The Asia 
Foundation. Mission research also included valuable input 
from international organizations such as the International 
Labor Organization (ILO), UNICEF, and the International 
Organization for Migration (IOM), the latter of which was 
particularly helpful in providing law enforcement 
statistics. A breakdown of Mission hours spent in 
preparation of the report will follow separately. 
 
¶9.  (U) The report text follows the general outline of 
themes and questions provided in ref A instructions. Each 
section begins with a capsule "update" that briefly 
summarizes the most important new information included in 
the text. 
 
¶10.  (U) The Jakarta Mission point of contact on the TIP 
issue is Political Officer Stanley Harsha, tel. (62) 21- 
3435-9146, fax (62) 21-3435-9116. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Report text: 
 
----------------------------------------- 
¶I.  OVERVIEW OF INDONESIA'S ACTIVITIES TO 
    ELIMINATE TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 
----------------------------------------- 
 
UPDATE 
------ 
 
The past year did not witness significant change in overall 
trafficking patterns in Indonesia.  There is a continuous 
trend of Indonesians seeking work abroad as high 
 
unemployment and poverty pushes workers overseas.  The GOI 
curtailed the practice of allowing young women to travel to 
Japan under the guise of "cultural performers," according 
to immigration and WomenQs Empowerment Ministry officials, 
resulting in a decrease in reported trafficked women in 
Japan.  Anti-trafficking police complained during a 
February 2007 meeting that the problem persists of West 
Kalimantan women being trafficked to Taiwan as contract 
brides who end up either being forced into prostitution or 
used by their spouses for a couple of years and then sent 
home; a November 2006 ACILS/ICMC report QWhen They Were 
SoldQ confirms this. According to NGOs, export of Qcultural 
performersQ to Japan, who oftentimes end up being 
trafficked into prostitution, persisted despite official 
claims that this type of practice was stopped in 2006. 
Ministry of Manpower statistics on problems with workers 
returning from Taiwan and Singapore document a high number 
of cases of sexually transmitted diseases.  Reports have 
begun trickling into NGOs of women displaced by a mudflow 
disaster near Surabaya being forced into prostitution 
because of economic hardship, but it was too early to 
document this.  Domestic trafficking continued to be 
concentrated in prostitution, with rampant complicity by 
security officials. An Atma Jaya University study in late 
2006 documented illegal methods used by manpower agencies 
to keep workers in debt bondage from the time they are 
recruited, also documented by ACILS/ICMC.  The Ministry of 
Manpower remained passive this year in stopping these and 
other abuses, its raids on manpower agencies having no 
effect on trafficking. Cases of severe abuse of Indonesians 
trafficked abroad, particularly to Malaysia and Saudi 
Arabia, continued unabated.  The GOI made significant 
progress in efforts by its Mission in Malaysia to protect, 
treat and repatriate victims. 
 
A new witness protection law enacted in August, 2006 should 
give prosecutors more leeway in providing testimony against 
traffickers while protecting victims by such means as 
allowing use of videotaped testimony.  Many local 
governments and communities became galvanized to stop 
trafficking in 2006 as public consciousness grew 
perceptibly. A number of provincial and local governments 
passed anti-trafficking or women and child protection laws. 
Local governments also increased funding for prevention and 
treatment, and are carrying out coordinated efforts between 
civil society and government. Civil society across 
Indonesia kept the media spotlight on trafficking, 
resulting in many in-depth reports on television and in 
print.  The visits to Indonesia by TIP envoy Ambassador 
John Miller and a UN special envoy brought attention to 
crucial trafficking issues to officials and the public, 
while U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Lynn Pascoe raised the 
trafficking problem and the urgent need to pass the anti- 
trafficking bill during numerous meetings with several 
ministers.  The message that trafficking is a top bilateral 
issue and multilateral issue for the U.S. was clearly 
appreciated by all relevant senior government officials. 
 
President Yudhoyono took action to protect migrant workers 
through an August 2006 decree to provide them more 
comprehensive protection and by giving strong messages to 
senior officials to eliminate trafficking.  Honest, 
conscientious officials were appointed at senior levels 
with the political will to carry through.  For the first 
time this year, significant numbers of police, prosecutors 
and immigration officials understood the wider meaning of 
human trafficking and began working together, and this 
education process began reaching hundreds of judges.  Under 
the leadership of the Ministry of WomenQs Empowerment and a 
Parliamentary special committee on anti-trafficking, work 
on the comprehensive anti-trafficking bill proceeded at a 
feverish pace from October to date, fully taking on board 
civil societyQs suggestions to strengthen the legislation. 
 
The bill was delayed only by final efforts to ensure the 
billQs language would cover all the crucial elements and 
could be clearly understood by law enforcers. Indonesian 
and international NGOs deemed the bill to be strong in all 
major aspects.  The bill is now scheduled for final debate 
and possible passage on March 20. 
 
For the third year in a row, the Ministry of WomenQs 
Empowerment published a report in 2006 on efforts to fight 
trafficking covering the period of April 2005 to March 
¶2006.  The GOI reported for the first time this year the 
anti-trafficking budget for the Ministries of WomenQs 
Empowerment and the Coordinating Ministry for Social 
Welfare, totaling $4.8 million for 2007. End update. 
 
INDONESIA FACES SIGNIFICANT TRAFFICKING CRIMES 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
Indonesia, a developing country and emerging democracy with 
the world's fourth largest population, is a place of origin 
for a significant number of internationally trafficked 
women and children, and to a lesser extent men. Indonesia 
is also a transit and destination country for international 
trafficking, although foreign victims are very small in 
number relative to Indonesian victims. Very significant 
incidents of trafficking occur within Indonesia's borders, 
including for prostitution.  Different regions of the 
country are identifiable as sending, transit and/or 
receiving areas for internal as well as international 
trafficking.  There were no reports during this period of 
trafficking in territory outside of GOI control. 
 
Source region, transit region and receiving region 
of trafficking in persons in Indonesia 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
Update 
------- 
 
Source regions:  Various official data and observations by 
ACILS/ICMC (November 2006, When They Were Sold) indicate 
that all provinces of Indonesia are both sources and 
destinations. An ACILS analysis of Department of Social 
Affairs data on women and girls entering prostitution in 
1994-95 and 2004 found it difficult to draw any firm 
conclusions.  The biggest increase in prostitution in 
recent years has been into South Sumatra and Bangka 
Belitung, followed by Jakarta, Riau and Riau Islands. 
However, places which traditionally have had high levels of 
prostitution such as East Java and West Kalimantan continue 
to be destinations for traffickers even if the absolute 
numbers of prostitutes is not increasing because of the 
high replacement rate of prostitutes in such places. On the 
other hand, in more isolated places such as Bangka 
Belitung, Riau Islands, Halmahera, Moluccas and Papua, 
traffickers find it easier to isolate and hold women and 
girls in captivity, the ACILS study points out. 
 
Eastern Indonesia continues to be a source area, transit 
point and destination for victims of human trafficking. 
East and Central Java, North Sulawesi, Bali and Nusa 
Tenggaram, East Kalimantan and West Kalimantan provinces 
are among the source areas for both domestic and 
international human trafficking.  East Java and Central 
Sulawesi are transit points and used for QsocializationQ of 
women being trafficked for commercial sex work domestically 
and around Southeast Asia.  Surabaya and Bali remain 
destinations for domestic trafficking victims for both 
commercial sex work and child labor. 
 
Transit regions: A November 2006 ACILS report concludes 
that most trafficking to Malaysia and Singapore follows two 
major routes, known as the eastern and western corridors. 
 
The western corridor is composed of two departure points: 
Batam Island, Riau and Entikong, West Kalimantan for travel 
by air from Kuching to Kuala Lumpur.  Nunukan, East 
Kalimantan is the eastern corridor departure point to 
Malaysia and Brunei.  There are various air, sea and land 
routes from other points in Indonesia to these departure 
points. 
 
Domestic trafficking routes are varied and not well 
defined. 
 
Receiving regions: According to latest available IOM 
statistics covering March 2005 to October 2006 of 1,650 
victims it has assisted, the destinations were as follows: 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Destination   Freq Percent 
-------------------------------------- 
Malaysia      856  63 
Indonesia     432  32 
Saudi Arabia   41   3 
Japan          15   1 
Syria           8   1 
Kuwait          4   0 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
Types of Problems  Saudi Kuwait UEA Taiwan 
Malaysia Singapore 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
Salaries not paid       895 208  156  30 47  34 
Sexually abused         707  47   62  43 17  18 
Abused                  668  93   91  61 47  36 
Work not in accordance 
with training/promises  625  92   80  283 91  108 
injured at work         769  73   72  103 110 64 
--------------------------------------------- - 
End update. 
 
RELIABLE STATISTICS UNAVAILABLE 
------------------------------- 
 
Reliable statistics or estimates of the overall number of 
victims remain unavailable, in large part because of the 
illegal and informal nature of trafficking, the lack of 
systematic research, and frequent definitional problems. 
The sources available for information on the prevalence of 
TIP include GOI agencies (particularly the Women's Ministry 
and the People's Welfare Coordinating Ministry), domestic 
and international NGOs and international organizations, 
including UNICEF, IOM and ILO.  Most organizations' 
estimates rely upon a combination of extrapolation, field 
experience, press reports and anecdotal evidence.  Some of 
these organizations will not provide estimates due to the 
uncertainty of their information.  Definitional problems, 
often including a lack of distinction between human 
trafficking, lesser abuses of workers, and illegal 
migration make some estimates very unreliable. 
 
Crude estimates of the prevalence of TIP vary tremendously, 
but most indicate the number of victims in the upper tens 
of thousands or higher.  In past years, GOI documents 
referenced various estimates of the total number of 
victims, usually in the hundreds of thousands, without 
providing details for these figures.  The GOI's 2005-2006 
TIP report did not offer an estimate of victims.  GOI 
officials charged with the issue state that they do not 
have reliable, overall estimates of the number of victims. 
 
Other non-governmental estimates of the overall number of 
TIP victims exist, but do not have a strong basis in 
systematic research.  Migrant worker advocacy groups 
occasionally cited very high and seemingly inaccurate 
numbers.  To the extent that such organizations do not 
 
differentiate between trafficking and lesser abuses of 
migrant workers, their figures represent gross 
overestimates. 
 
INTERNAL TRAFFICKING MOST SIGNIFICANT 
------------------------------------- 
 
Update 
------ 
 
While reliable figures do not exist, many anti-trafficking 
organizations believe the number of victims of internal 
trafficking exceeds the number of Indonesians trafficked 
overseas.  The U.S. Mission's observations support this 
conclusion. Internal trafficking is largely in 
prostitution. Exploitation and abuse of children in the 
fishing industry and of women and girls in domestic 
servitude are serious abuses as reported in a June 2003 
Human Rights Watch report and a February 2007 Amnesty 
International report, but links to trafficking are not 
extensive. As ACILS reports (November 2006 QWhen They Were 
SoldQ), the movement of women and girls is more aided by 
friends and relatives than by professional recruiters, and 
the lack of an elaborate recruiting process and fees paid 
by employers prohibits large profits by would be 
traffickers.  Forced labor and worst forms of child labor 
better describes the situation in the fishing industry and 
domestic servitude than does trafficking. End update. 
 
BOUNDARY ESTIMATES 
------------------ 
 
Some groups have developed boundary estimates for groups 
vulnerable to trafficking. ICMC and ACILS, in their 2003 
book entitled "Trafficking of Women and Children in 
Indonesia," identified three categories that generate the 
greatest number of TIP victims: female migrant workers, 
prostitutes and child domestic workers.  (There are other 
categories that also generate TIP victims, but not are 
included in these ICMC/ACILS boundary estimates.) 
ICMC/ACILS estimated that between 2.4 to 3.7 million women 
and children worked in these sectors.  Within these 
boundaries, the total number of children ranges from 
254,000 to 422,000. 
 
ICMC/ACILS point out that these are not estimates of the 
number of victims (for example, most female migrant workers 
are not trafficked), but they do provide an indication of 
the potential impact of trafficking on a large number of 
women and children. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
TABLE 1:  WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN SECTORS 
          VULNERABLE TO TRAFFICKING 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
SECTOR                  Women Children   Children 
------                  --------------   -------- 
In-country Sex 
   Workers          130k - 240k      39k - 72k 
Female Migrant 
   Workers          1.4 - 2.1 mil.     n/a 
In-country domestic 
  workers           860k - 1.4 mil.  215k - 350k 
                    ---------------  ----------- 
                    2.4 - 3.7 mil.   254k - 422k 
 
SOURCE:  ICMC/ACILS, 2003 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
DATA ON PROSTITUTION 
-------------------- 
 
Prostitution constitutes a major source of concern for TIP 
 
in Indonesia due to the number of women and children 
involved; the clandestine, abusive and often forced nature 
of this work; the prevalence of organized crime; and the 
frequent awareness and/or complicity of officials and 
security forces (police and military) in prostitution.  The 
boundary estimates for domestic sex workers are somewhat 
more precise than for other areas.  ICMC/ACILS in 2003 
estimated between 130,000 to 240,000 in-country 
prostitutes.  A number of studies have consistently found 
that on average children make up some 25 to 30 percent of 
persons working as prostitutes. Using 30 percent, 
ICMC/ACILS arrives at boundary estimates of some 39,000 to 
72,000 child prostitutes.  This range also corresponds 
generally with a UNICEF  estimate.  Underage prostitutes 
(those under 18 years of age) are by definition TIP victims 
under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 
¶2000. 
 
The ILO generated data on the incidence of the worst forms 
of child labor, including child trafficking for 
prostitution, through a series of "rapid assessments" 
conducted in 2003. The ILO carried out the assessments in 
limited geographic areas of concern for specific types of 
child labor.  For child trafficking into prostitution, the 
ILO assessment focused on Java, home to 60 percent of 
Indonesia's population.  The ILO field research generated 
"best guess" estimates for child prostitutes in these 
provinces, noted in Table 2. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
TABLE 2:  ESTIMATES OF TOTAL NUMBER OF PROSTITUTES 
          AND CHILD PROSTITUTES ON JAVA 
 
LOCATION      TOTAL         TOTAL     PERCENT 
              PROSTITUTES   UNDERAGE  UNDERAGE 
--------      -----------   --------  -------- 
West Java:    31,380         9,000       29 
Jakarta:      28,620         5,100       18 
East Java:    14,279         4,081       29 
Central Java:  8,495         3,177       37 
Yogyakarta     1,106           194       18 
              -----------   --------  -------- 
              83,880        21,552       26 
 
SOURCE:  ILO RAPID ASSESSMENTS, 2003 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
STUDY ON PAPUA 
-------------- 
 
In remote Papua, a 2005 ICMC field study estimated that 
there were over 3,000 internally trafficked women and girls 
in the sex trade, including some 1,000 child prostitutes, 
in the area's seven largest population centers.  Almost all 
child street prostitutes were of Papuan origin.  In 
contrast, most victims in karaoke bars and brothels 
originated from Indonesian areas outside Papua, with the 
greatest number coming from North Sulawesi.  The victims 
normally arrived by ship, often with false promises of 
employment.  Internal migrant workers generated much of the 
demand for prostitution.  Geographic isolation, economic 
underdevelopment, and lack of civil society concern 
increased the severity of trafficking conditions in Papua. 
 
Update 
 
------ 
 
Riau Progress Limited 
--------------------- 
 
The Riau islands including Batam, Tanjung Pinang, Bintan 
and Karimun, a transit and destination area, did not make 
substantial progress in 2006.  In Batam, the results of 
 
anti-trafficking activities have been mixed.  NGOs report 
that the police chief has increasingly focused his efforts 
on trafficking but that the results are not yet clear. The 
Head of Batam's office for Women's Empowerment reported 
that her office handled 226 cases for Batam city in 2006. 
Most of these cases involved returning trafficking victims 
to their home provinces. YMKK, a foundation dealing with 
health issues for trafficking victims report that they 
handled 35 cases in 2006.  They, too, report that most of 
their activities involve repatriation of victims.  Only 
three of these cases, they report, were extensively 
investigated by the police; none went to trial.  According 
to NGO representatives, plans have been made for them to 
work more closely with the provincial government, the 
police, hospitals and prosecutors in 2007. 
 
Trafficking of women and girls to Riau Islands takes place 
primarily for sexual exploitation in the large numbers of 
entertainment establishments in Batam, Tanjung Pinang and 
Balai Karimun.  Riau Islands are also a transit area, to 
Malaysia in particular.  Local NGOS also report many girls 
being trafficked by pimps overnight to Singapore as 
prostitutes, using false documents.  This practice is 
difficult to control as many Indonesian women also travel 
to Singapore to shop.  In addition, there are reported 
incidences of selling babies born to women in prostitution 
and in labor export holding centers; it can be inferred 
that some babies sold are from trafficked women and girls 
with unwanted pregnancies, but it cannot be stated 
conclusively that this form of baby selling is a form of 
trafficking.  The ACILS November 2006 report concluded that 
this issue warrants further exploration.  YMKK estimates 
there are 5,000 sex workers in Batam alone, five percent 
under 18 years of age. ICMC estimates that 25 percent of 
the women and girls working as prostitutes in massage 
parlors and bars are under age 18.  While there is some 
freedom of movement for prostitutes working in red light 
districts to leave the enclosures of these Qlokalisasis,Q 
there are many reports that they cannot leave unescorted. 
According to Indonesian media, NGOs, and ILO research, 
Malaysians and Singaporeans constitute the largest number 
of sex tourists in Batam and the surrounding areas like 
Balai Karimun and Tanjung Pinang.  The area's sex industry 
is also heavily dependent on Indonesian clients, drawn in 
part from the population of hundreds of thousands of 
migrant workers in Batam.  ILO research described Tanjung 
Balai Karimun, near Batam, as operating a "prostitution 
economy." 
 
INDONESIAN VICTIMS IN MALAYSIA 
------------------------------ 
 
Update 
------ 
 
Malaysia is commonly identified as the country receiving 
the greatest number of Indonesian trafficking victims. 
According to ACILS, in Malaysia the risks of being 
trafficked are compounded by the fact that probably more 
women and girls enter Malaysia illegally than legally to 
seek employment. ACILS has accounts that an over-supply of 
Indonesian women and girls in Malaysia results in placement 
agencies in Malaysia offering incentives to hire more 
foreign maids including offering the recovery of employment 
fees from the employee through wage reductions. Various 
sources report that the first five months of wages are 
commonly deducted. IOM reported that from March 2005 to 
October 2006, 72 percent of female victims recovered from 
various countries had chlamydia, and a significant 
proportion had other STDs, including 1.7 percent who were 
HIV positive. Of these victims, 63 percent were recovered 
from Malaysia. 
 
A 2006 bilateral MOU between Indonesia and Malaysia failed 
to give adequate protection to Indonesian migrant workers, 
opening the door to abuse. The agreement allows employers 
to hold workersQ passports, restricting their freedom to 
return home, allows monthly deductions of up to 50 percent 
of negotiated wages to repay loans and advances, and does 
not specify time off. 
 
Past NGO and GOI estimates of Indonesian prostitutes 
(whether trafficked or not) and child prostitutes in 
Malaysia have ranged in the thousands, but such estimates 
do not have a strong basis in substantive research. 
Officials at the Women's Ministry reported that during 2004 
the GOI repatriated from Malaysia 1,047 allegedly 
trafficked prostitutes, the latest data available.  IOM 
recorded 470 Indonesian trafficking victims, including 110 
children, repatriated from Malaysia from March 2005 to 
February 2006. Of these, 81 were trafficked into 
prostitution, representing 62 adults and 19 children. 
Domestic workers constituted the largest number of victims, 
267, repatriated with IOM assistance. 
 
The ILO, IOM, NGOs and Indonesian diplomats in Malaysia 
have noted reports of illegal Indonesian migrant workers 
trafficked to isolated plantations and plywood factories in 
Malaysia.  It was not clear in all instances whether such 
reports met the definition of trafficking or represented 
other types of labor abuse.  In July 2006, IOM reported 
that 10 out of the 78 plantations workers rescued from 
Malaysia, 13 percent, were children. 
 
"CULTURAL PERFORMERS" IN JAPAN 
------------------------------ 
 
GOI stopped permitting Indonesian women to travel to Japan 
and South Korea as Qcultural performersQ in June 2006, 
according to the Ministry of WomenQs Empowerment, thus 
curtailing a practice that lead to being trafficked into 
prostitution. The Indonesian migrant workers protection NGO 
Kopbumi, however, could not confirm whether the number of 
victims has reduced or not.  Kopbumi reported that even 
though the government had banned women to travel to Japan 
as Qcultural performersQ, the practice still exists. 
Kopbumi estimated that about 100 women go to Japan as 
Qcultural performersQ or QapprenticeshipQ per month, but 
they have no written data to back this up. For 2005, the 
National Police Agency of Japan in February 2006 reported 
that 117 foreign women were recovered with Indonesians 
comprising the largest group of victims, totaling 44 women 
(source: The Jakarta Post, February 10, 2006.)  End update. 
Prior to this year, the numbers of such entertainers were 
believed to number in the hundreds, according to GOI and 
media reports. In 2003, the Indonesian Embassy in Tokyo 
reportedly acknowledged knowing of 235 female entertainment 
workers in Japan. International media reported that in 2005 
Japanese authorities rescued 44 Indonesian women trafficked 
as "sex slaves" to Japan, with Indonesians representing for 
the first time the largest group of foreign victims rescued 
from the sex trade there.  In 2005, police arrested two 
persons for trafficking dozens of "cultural performers" 
into prostitution in Japan. 
 
MIGRANT WORKERS 
--------------- 
 
Update 
------ 
 
Illegal migrant workers are more likely to be trafficked 
and according to ACILS at least 800,000 of the current 
estimated 1.5 million Indonesian workers in Malaysia are 
said to be illegal.  Some 600,000 documented Indonesian 
workers went abroad in 2006, and another two million 
 
traveled undocumented, according to GOI sources.  In order 
to relieve unemployment in Indonesia, the official target 
is to send 750,000 workers abroad next year, according to 
the Ministry of Manpower.  The policy is to send 70 percent 
semi-skilled workers, reducing the number sent in low wage 
informal sector jobs.  End update. 
 
ICMC/ACILS note that the category of overseas or migrant 
labor, which according to their research generates large 
numbers of TIP victims, encompasses a range of sectors. 
Female Indonesian migrant laborers tend to work as domestic 
helpers, as entertainers, in the service industry, in 
factories and on plantations.  Males tend to find work 
overseas in construction, factories and plantations, and as 
drivers.  The large majority of Indonesian workers overseas 
are not trafficking victims, but they are vulnerable to 
trafficking and lesser abuses at various stages Q during 
their recruitment, pre-departure, placement and return. 
The migrant worker recruiting system tolerates and 
institutionalizes forms of debt bondage.  The media tend to 
describe Indonesian women as among the most abused of all 
Asian migrant workers due in part to their lack of 
education and poor English language skills.  Such articles 
commonly cite examples of abuse in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, 
Singapore, and Hong Kong. 
 
CHILD DOMESTICS 
--------------- 
 
Update 
------ 
 
A 2002-2003 baseline survey conducted by the University of 
Indonesia and ILO-IPEC estimated that there were 2.6 
million domestic workers in Indonesia, though this figure 
was hugely at variance with the number of 579,059 generated 
by the Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics in 2001 
(Human Rights Watch, June 2005).  Close to 35 percent of 
the 2.6 million domestic workers were below 18 years of 
age, 93 percent of the below-18 domestic workers being 
girls (Source: ACILS QWhen They Were SoldQ.) End update. 
 
Child domestic workers, frequently found in many middle- to 
upper-income Indonesian households, may number from 215,000 
to 350,000 in the under-15 age bracket, according to 
ICMC/ACILS.  ILO data from a limited 2002-2003 survey 
indicated that some 688,000 children under age 18 may be 
employed as child domestic workers.  There have been no 
studies done that would verify these numbers. Employers may 
prefer child domestics over adults because children 
commonly receive lower wages, and can be more easily 
managed and controlled.  An unknown number of domestics 
work in trafficking or trafficking-like conditions.  For 
example, they may receive little or no wages, face 
restricted freedom of movement, subjected to physical and 
psychological abuse and sexual assault, and have no means 
to remove themselves from such situations.  A 2005 Human 
Rights Watch report, "Always on Call," provided accounts of 
gross abuse of child domestic workers in Indonesia. 
 
STREET CHILDREN 
--------------- 
 
Update 
------ 
 
Substantial numbers of street children were apparent in 
Jakarta and the provinces of East Java, West Java, North 
Sumatra, and South Sulawesi. Surabaya, in East Java, was 
home to approximately 8,000 street children, many 
reportedly susceptible to sexual abuse and violence. 
Approximately 40 shelters in the province provided services 
to such children.  The Jakarta City government opened a 
 
shelter in 2004 with the capacity for approximately 200 
children.  The government continued to fund other shelters 
administered by local NGOs and paid for the education of 
some street children (Source: 2006 Human Rights Report). 
End update. 
 
Street children represent another potential source of 
trafficking victims.  The number of street children in 
Indonesia has risen quite sharply during the last two 
years.  In 2004, the Social Affairs Ministry recorded that 
there were 98,113 street children, but by 2006, this number 
had jumped to 144,889.  The ministry believed the rise was 
closely related to the poverty rate, which also rose.  They 
estimated that 75 percent of street children come from poor 
families.   ICMC/ACILS note that although most street 
children are not trafficked into their situation, they are 
very vulnerable to traffickers.  ILO studies in 2001 and 
2004 documented children trafficked for the purpose of 
organized street begging. 
 
HEFFERN