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RUEHKU/AMEMBASSY KUWAIT 0378
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 0513
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RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 3940
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RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 2303
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 1939
RUEAWJB/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC

UNCLAS JAKARTA 000699 
 
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 2 OF 4) 
 
 
BRIDE PURCHASE PHENOMENON 
------------------------- 
 
Update 
------ 
 
Starting in the early 1990s many women and girls from West 
Kalimantan were sent to Taiwan as wives of Taiwanese men. 
These women and girls could be called Qmail-order bridesQ 
as most often such marriages were negotiated by agents in 
Indonesia, selected on the basis of their photographs by 
men abroad intending to procure an Indonesian bride, and, 
in most cases, the chosen women did not get to see their 
husbands until they reached Taiwan.  However, because of 
the increasing number of foreign brides, the Taiwan 
government imposed a limit on the number of brides from 
certain countries that could enter Taiwan each year -- for 
Indonesian brides the number was limited to 360.  It cannot 
be said with certainty if that is the reason for the 
practice of sending women from Indonesia to Taiwan as mail- 
order brides appears to have decreased in recent years, but 
reports from West Kalimantan say that the phenomenon still 
exists. On the other hand, more Indonesian women are now 
opting to work as domestic workers in Taiwan because of 
higher wages.  There is no evidence yet to suggest that 
labor export agencies are using false job orders to procure 
Indonesian women for marriage to Taiwanese men. (Source: 
ACILS/ICMC, QWhen They Were SoldQ, November 2006). 
According to Indonesian trafficking task force police in 
Kalimantan, Indonesian women are oftentimes taken to Taiwan 
to be used for prostitution or for short-term marriages of 
a few years after which they are sent back to Indonesia. 
Indonesian police said are trying to detect and put a stop 
to this practice.  An Indonesian manpower agency also told 
us in 2006 that men from many countries, including the 
U.S., come to Jakarta to interview potential spouses who 
line up for the interviews. End update. 
 
The GOI, including the police, and NGOs like LBH-APIK and 
ICMC/ACILS have documented the selling of brides, including 
some underage, in the Singkawang District of West 
Kalimantan. This area is the focal point for the bride 
purchase phenomenon due to the existence of a large, poor 
ethnic Chinese community. Most buyers are from Taiwan and 
Hong Kong and seek Chinese-speaking women.  Anecdotal 
evidence and Indonesian officials who have visited Taiwan 
suggest that many brides become spouses and part of 
families in Taiwan, although some are trafficked for 
prostitution, forced domestic work, or other slavery-like 
practices. In 2004, the Taiwan police received over 170 
reports of abuse from Indonesian women living in Taiwan, 
according to Indonesian police sources. Beginning in 2004, 
Indonesian police increased their interactions with 
counterparts in Taiwan. In August 2005, Indonesian and 
Taiwanese officials held a seminar on protections for 
Indonesian spouses in Taiwan, and reported that there were 
10,115 Indonesian citizen spouses living in Taiwan, roughly 
11 percent of all foreign-born spouses. 
 
OTHER FORMS 
----------- 
 
Update 
------ 
 
Organizations working on TIP recognized additional 
categories that presumably generate trafficking victims. 
In most cases, even less information is available on the 
prevalence of trafficking in these sectors.  One well- 
documented category that appears to meet the TIP definition 
is the recruitment of boys to work on offshore fishing 
platforms (jermals), employment that exposes these children 
to many serious hazards and isolation for months at a time. 
 
The incidence of boys on fishing platforms off the coast of 
North Sumatra has decreased dramatically over recent years. 
An ILO field study in June 2003 of 100 known platforms 
uncovered only 15 children. Though significantly reduced 
because of sustained ILO efforts, the practice of employing 
young boys to work on jermals still continues. (ACILS: 
QWhen They Were SoldQ).  End Update.  More recent ILO 
studies have focused on children trafficked aboard fishing 
vessels.  The NGO Terre des Hommes documented the 
phenomenon of trafficking in babies, as distinct from 
illegal adoptions.  The plantation sector and narcotics 
trafficking may generate an unknown number of trafficking 
victims. 
 
VULNERABLE GROUPS 
----------------- 
 
Update 
------ 
 
A 2006 Airlangga University Human Rights Center study 
reported traffickers actively solicit new victims in rural 
areas of East Java by representing themselves as overseas 
employment recruiters.  They convince local village leaders 
to falsify identity documents in order for the victims to 
be eligible to work overseas. Once the local documents are 
falsified, it becomes much easier to obtain false passports 
and other documentation at a transit point along the 
trafficking route. 
 
In East Java, local NGOs report poverty and poor living 
conditions motivate young women living in rural areas to 
travel to an urban area in search of work. Organized human 
trafficking operations identify and target the village 
girls in bus and train stations, picking their pockets and 
then providing an older woman to comfort the victims and 
offer them work. A debt bond is created for food, shelter 
and transportation, which the girls are then required to 
work off prior to release.  The girls are transported to 
Surabaya, where they are indoctrinated or sold again and 
moved toward Kalimantan and eventually Malaysia or 
Thailand. End update. 
 
Women and children are most likely to fall victim to 
trafficking in Indonesia.  A number of factors contribute 
to women's vulnerability, including:  poverty, lower 
education levels, cultural expectations, unequal status 
(relative powerlessness) in the family and society 
(particularly in lower income groups), limited economic 
opportunities, and expectations of supporting children and 
families.  Girls who have married and divorced at a young 
age appear particularly vulnerable. Age and cultural 
traditions that emphasize the authority of older persons 
compound children's vulnerability.  The frequent complicity 
of parents and relatives in the trafficking of children 
reflects a lack of respect for children's rights within 
some family settings, as well as economic pressures.  End 
update. 
 
Traffickers victimize persons from many different ethnic 
groups.  Many persons trafficked originate from densely- 
populated, low income areas of Java, reflecting the larger 
pool of potential victims on this island that features some 
60 percent of Indonesia's total population and contributes 
the majority of the country's migrant labor.  No accurate 
statistics are available to judge, however, if the 
prevalence of TIP (as a percent of the population) is 
greater on Java than in other regions. 
 
The Women's Ministry conducted a study in 2003 of sending 
areas in West Java that supplied women and girls for 
prostitution and sex trafficking.  The study concluded that 
a strong correlation exists between poverty and trafficking 
 
victims at the district level. Other studies have de- 
emphasized poverty as the key factor, pointing to the 
existence of established trafficking networks that lead to 
greater recruitment of victims in some areas compared to 
neighboring communities with the same economic profile. 
 
GEOGRAPHIC PATTERNS 
------------------- 
 
IOM statistics from March 2005 to October 2006, found that 
West Kalimantan is the source for the highest number of 
trafficking victims at 24 percent of the total numbers IOM 
rescued, followed closely by West Java (21 percent), 
Central Java (10 percent), East Java (10 percent), West 
Nusa Tengarra (8 percent), North Sumatra (8 percent), 
Lampung (4 percent), East Nusa Tenggara (4 percent), Banten 
(3 percent), South Sumatra (2 percent), and Jakarta (2 
percent). These numbers reflect observations by other 
domestic and international groups, as well as the GOI, on 
which provinces are the major sending areas.  End update. 
 
Traffickers send victims to domestic and overseas 
locations. NGOs and the GOI identify the following 
provinces as major domestic receiving areas:  Bali, East 
Java (Surabaya), East Kalimantan, Jakarta, Papua, and Riau 
Islands (near Singapore).  Certain provinces stood out as 
important transit areas for trafficking victims, including: 
Bali, Jakarta, East Java, Riau Islands, North Sumatra, West 
Kalimantan and East Kalimantan. 
 
In terms of overseas receiving areas, traffickers send 
Indonesian victims to several countries.  Most GOI, NGO and 
press reports concluded that the greatest numbers of 
Indonesian victims overseas were found in Malaysia and 
Saudi Arabia, respectively, mirroring overall migrant 
worker flows to these countries.  Other noted destinations 
included Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Taiwan, 
Japan, South Korea, and Singapore.  Unlike in some recent 
years, there were no new reports of trafficking to 
Australia. 
 
GOI agencies and NGOs have documented distinct patterns and 
routes of trafficking from and to different locations.  For 
example, North Sulawesi is known as an area that sends 
trafficked women as prostitutes to isolated Papua.  West 
Kalimantan is the focal point for the bride purchase 
phenomenon, due to the existence of a large, poor ethnic 
Chinese community there and the fact that most buyers are 
from Taiwan and Hong Kong and seek Chinese-speaking women. 
Certain villages in Indramayu, West Java, constitute a 
well-documented sending area for young girls and women, 
particularly into the sex trade.  During a February 2003 
U.S. Embassy visit, Indramayu officials stated that up to 
two-thirds of girls and young women in certain villages had 
migrated to work in large cities or overseas, as 
prostitutes in many cases, leading the local government to 
allocate anti-trafficking funds.  Girls from Indramayu 
represent the largest group of prostitutes operating in 
some prostitution areas of Jakarta. 
 
FOREIGN VICTIMS IN INDONESIA 
---------------------------- 
 
Update 
------ 
 
There are no dependable estimates on the numbers of persons 
trafficked into Indonesia from aboard but it is relatively 
small compared to the number of Indonesian victims inside 
and outside the country.  An agent who provides foreign sex 
workers to his clients claimed the number of foreign women 
in prostitution had reached 5,000 from 2000-2003 but that 
subsequently it has decreased (ACILS, QWhen They Were 
 
 
 
Sold,Q quoting Q150 Titik Operasi, 2006).  National police 
reported at least 600 foreign prostitutes arrested in raids 
conducted in the past five years (Cungkok, Geliat Genit, 
2006).  Such women and girls are placed at night 
entertainment districts and fitness centers in big cities, 
including Jakarta, Denpasar, Pekanbaru, Surabaya, Medan, 
Bandung, Semarang, Makassar and Balikpapan (ACILS, QWhen 
They Were Sold,Q 2006).  End update. 
 
Most foreign prostitutes in Indonesia originated from 
mainland China.  According to NGO information, some 150 
foreign prostitutes operated in Batam, coming from China 
and Thailand, along with a small number of Europeans.  The 
media, NGOs, and the ILO reported smaller numbers of women 
from Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Uzbekistan, the 
Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Venezuela, Spain and Ukraine. 
In August 2005, police and immigration officials in Jakarta 
raided nightclubs, saunas and beauty parlors, rounding up 
and deporting 68 foreign prostitutes, 63 from China and 
five from Russia and Uzbekistan. 
 
In 2004 ACILS and other non-governmental sources reported 
Burmese seafarers trafficked aboard fishing vessels from 
Thailand operating in Indonesian waters. Over a period of 
years, some of these fishermen jumped ship in the remote 
eastern Indonesian port of Tual.  In 2006, one NGO 
estimated that there were some 100 such Burmese fishermen 
living in undocumented status near Tual. 
 
TRAFFICKING CONDITIONS, METHODS 
------------------------------- 
 
For internal trafficking into the sex trade, traffickers 
used debt bondage, violence and threats of violence, drug 
addiction, and withholding of documents to keep women and 
children in prostitution. 
 
Traffickers employ a variety of means to attract and hold 
victims, including promises of well-paying jobs, debt 
bondage, community or family pressures, threats of 
violence, rape, and false marriages.  Promises of 
relatively lucrative employment are among the most common 
tactics.  For example, police and NGO interviews of women 
who escaped from forced prostitution in Batam, Papua and 
Malaysia commonly reveal that traffickers recruited the 
young women with offers of jobs in restaurants, 
supermarkets or as domestic servants.  Once at their 
destination, traffickers used violence and rape to force 
them into the sex trade.  Migrant worker recruiters also 
use misrepresentation and debt bondage to traffic men and 
women.  Beginning in December 2004 and continuing through 
2005, the GOI freed some 2,000 women and girls detained in 
illegal Jakarta-area migrant worker holding centers, many 
of which reportedly kept their victims illegally confined 
under inhumane conditions. 
 
Debt bondage is particularly common in the sex trade. 
Indonesian women and girls trafficked into prostitution in 
Batam, for example, commonly began with a debt of five to 
ten million rupiah (USD 600-1,200).  Given the constant 
accumulation of other debts, women and girls are often 
unable to repay these amounts, even after years of work as 
prostitutes.  Although detailed information was lacking, 
NGOs assumed traffickers would subject foreign victims held 
in prostitution to threats, violence, and withholding of 
documents. 
 
Some migrant workers, often female, also entered 
trafficking and trafficking-like situations during their 
attempt to find work abroad through migrant worker 
recruiting agencies (PJTKI).  Licensed and unlicensed PJTKI 
used debt bondage, withholding of documents and confinement 
in locked premises to keep migrant workers in holding 
 
 
centers, sometimes for periods of many months.  Some PJTKI 
also use threats of violence to maintain control over 
prospective migrant workers.  Civil society, officials, and 
victims themselves commonly viewed conditions of debt 
bondage and physical confinement as acceptable aspects of 
the migrant worker system, rather than as rights 
violations. 
 
Traffickers sent Indonesian victims both overseas and to 
domestic locations.  As noted above, traffickers focused 
disproportionately on women and children.  Traffickers also 
took advantage of persons in many impoverished regions. 
While poverty plays a leading role in facilitating 
trafficking, poor educational opportunities, cultural 
factors and established trafficking networks also acted as 
important determinants. 
 
TRAFFICKERS 
----------- 
 
Traffickers fit many different profiles.  Some worked in 
larger mafia-like organizations, particularly for 
trafficking into major prostitution areas.  Others operated 
as small or family-run businesses.  Husband-wife teams of 
traffickers were common, with the wife often serving as the 
recruiting agent.  In many instances, local community 
leaders and parents of victims assisted in trafficking. 
 
Some PJTKI operated similar to trafficking rings, leading 
both male and female workers into debt bondage, abusive 
employment situations and other trafficking situations. 
Some of the offending PJTKI held official licenses.  Others 
operated illegally or appeared to be paper fronts for 
traffickers. 
 
Some individual members of the security forces were 
complicit in trafficking, particularly by providing 
protection to brothels and prostitution fronts in discos, 
karaoke bars and hotels, or by receiving bribes to turn a 
blind eye to such crimes.  An unknown number of civilian 
officials, including those who work in local government 
service, immigration, and local Manpower offices, either 
contributed to or were complicit in trafficking. 
 
There were many reports of families either selling or 
encouraging children to enter abusive domestic service or 
prostitution.  Children worked to pay off debts or advances 
provided to their families.  In certain rural communities, 
such as Indramayu, West Java, the GOI and NGOs repeatedly 
noted a culture in which young women were encouraged to 
support their families by becoming big-city prostitutes. 
 
SIGNS OF POLITICAL WILL 
----------------------- 
 
Update 
------ 
 
Political will to fight trafficking was clear at the 
national leadership level as well as at local levels, while 
awareness of the issue continued to penetrate through 
government agencies.  The Government of Indonesia (GOI) 
completed the final draft in February 2007 of a strong, 
comprehensive anti-trafficking bill (law) taking input from 
Indonesia civil society and international NGOs to ensure 
that the bill would cover all major aspects of the issue 
and could be an effective tool for law enforcement. 
Parliament and the executive branch worked feverishly on 
the bill for months in order to bring the bill before the 
full Parliament for passage on March 20, 2007. 
 
President Yudhoyono in August 2006 issued presidential 
decree No 6/2006 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.  This resulted in the 
beginning of cooperation between police, immigration, 
prosecutors and other officials for the protection of 
migrant worker.  For example, 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.  The 
National Plan of Action (NPA) bore fruit in more effective 
national coordination of efforts, as dozens of members of 
the task force from all concerned agencies and NGOs met 
four times during 2006.  The GOI established more victim 
medical treatment facilities and dramatically increased the 
number of police and prosecutors focused on trafficking. 
 
The President furthermore has appointed senior level 
officials in key positions with clear instructions to 
eliminate trafficking, resulting in noticeable progress in 
law enforcement (see below).  The government furthermore 
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 greatly increased. 
 
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.  Several senior law enforcement 
officials complicit in illegal activities that promoted 
trafficking are being investigated for corruption, have 
been sanctioned or have been transferred to less sensitive 
position, according to various reliable sources. 
 
Cooperation among various government offices and 
international NGOs at Indonesian diplomatic missions in key 
sending areas resulted in increased victim rescues, and 
more humane repatriation.  Provincial and local governments 
have begun carrying the torch in efforts, passing local 
laws, increasing funding, increasing law enforcement 
efforts and setting up mechanisms for strong cooperation 
between government and civil society. 
 
Progress in North Sumatra 
------------------------- 
 
In Western Indonesia, significant progress was made in two 
provinces with historical problems with trafficking: North 
Sumatra and Aceh.  In North Sumatra, the provincial level 
anti-trafficking task force brought together 
representatives from the provincial offices of health, 
women's empowerment, education, social affairs, and youth 
with the police, NGOs, and religious groups to promote 
cooperation, pool resources, and organize outreach 
activities to assist victims.  Consistent with the existing 
anti-trafficking action plan, the provincial task force met 
with counterparts in Malaysia to discuss cooperation in 
rescuing and repatriating trafficking victims.  They also 
met with trafficking victims in Malaysia.  In at least one 
case, Indonesian police officers joined their Malaysian 
counterparts in a raid to rescue an Indonesian victim 
there.  The provincial task force also helped to organize a 
local one in Tanjung Balai, an area that has been a 
transit, source, and destination for trafficking victims. 
It also conducted training for officials working in local 
ports to identify possible victims. These efforts resulted 
in the arrest of at least two traffickers and prevented two 
groups of under aged girls from being trafficked out of the 
region.  The task force also worked to bridge relations 
between police and local officials.  As part of its efforts 
to promote anti-trafficking policies at the national level, 
the provincial task force organized a regional conference 
 
which brought together relevant officials, NGOs, and 
religious groups from neighboring provinces and Jakarta to 
discuss joint actions. As evidence of increased commitment 
to prosecuting traffickers, the police point out that in 
2006, there were 10 trafficking cases handled by the 
police.  Seven have already been turned over to prosecutors 
and the others are still under investigation.  A local NGO 
active in anti-trafficking activities (Pusaka) points out 
that not only have the police been more aggressive in 
pursuing traffickers but the prosecutor's office has begun 
to recommend long sentences for traffickers.  One impact of 
this approach has been, according to the NGO, reduced 
trafficking in the province as reflected in the number of 
victims receiving assistance from NGOs.  North Sumatra is 
one of a small number of provinces with its own anti- 
trafficking law. 
 
Progress in Aceh 
---------------- 
 
Aceh began to organize its own provincial anti-trafficking 
task force based on the North Sumatra model.  The 
provincial legislature is also in the process of drafting 
its own anti-trafficking law with the goal of passage in 
¶2007.  Representatives of both NGOs and the police have 
said that the province's relatively high levels of poverty, 
low levels of education, and proximity to destination areas 
places it at risk of becoming a source area.  Through 
awareness campaigns and partnerships with NGOs and 
religious leaders, they hope to prevent a trafficking 
problem from developing in the first place.  End update. 
 
Indonesia' priority to fight trafficking found renewed 
expression in public remarks by President Yudhoyono, 
cabinet members, and other senior officials.  In December 
2005, President Yudhoyono called publicly for the quick 
passage of the comprehensive anti-trafficking bill and 
personally decried the conditions of trafficked migrant 
workers.  In January 2006, President Yudhoyono and 
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi issued a joint 
statement, which "condemned acts of trafficking in persons 
as an atrocious crime against humanity."  The joint 
statement also "expressed strong commitment in working 
together to combat such crime and instructed the two 
countries' respective national police to enhance 
cooperation towards such a goal."  Indonesia's Women's 
Minister and Manpower Minister spoke out against 
trafficking publicly and in meetings. 
 
LIMITATIONS, RESOURCES 
---------------------- 
 
Update 
------ 
 
GOI officials and NGOs reported that the national and local 
governments increased outlays for specific anti-trafficking 
efforts over the past several years, although specific 
budget figures were difficult to confirm.  Nevertheless, 
the Ministry of WomenQs Empowerment reported that its anti- 
trafficking budget increased by ten percent over 2005 to 
US$330,265 for 2006.  GOIQs overall budget for anti- 
trafficking for 2007 is US$4,876,502.  This is the first 
year the GOI has reported its overall anti-trafficking 
budget.  The budget breaks down as follows: 
 
-- Coordinating Ministry for PeopleQs Welfare, $85,678 for 
research on empowerment of women and children at risk; 
socialization and advocating of anti-TIP policy at border 
areas; monitoring and evaluation; position paper of counter 
TIP in Indonesia 2006 report; 
 
-- State Ministry for Women Empowerment, $330,232 for 
 
prevention, protection, victim reintegration and 
rehabilitation; coordination and cooperation; 
 
-- Department of Social Affairs, $4,460,592 for 
reintegration of migrant worker with problems (trafficked, 
violence victims) from Malaysia (budgeted for 35,500 
people); reintegration of migrant workers with problems 
(trafficked, violence) from outer Malaysia; 
decentralization of services, (allocated budget for 33 
provinces including budget to help trafficking and violence 
victims). 
 
The East Java legislature appropriated $38,000 from its 
2007 budget to operate the East Java Integrated Service 
Center (PPT) operated in the provincial police hospital in 
Surabaya. The PPT provides medical and psychological 
services for female victims of violence and human 
trafficking. There are also 23 regency level PPTs in East 
Java. The regencies pay for the daily operations of those 
PPTs, which also serve human trafficking victims.  End 
update. 
 
Given the scope of the country's trafficking problem, 
Indonesia's actions against trafficking, whether the 
responsibility of national or local governments, continued 
to demonstrate serious weaknesses and failings. 
Indonesia's relative poverty, weaknesses in governance, 
poor public funding, preoccupation with post-tsunami 
recovery, and endemic corruption all contributed to these 
shortcomings. 
 
As a developing country with a low per capita income, and 
as a new democracy of some 240 million people struggling 
with a legacy of 40 years of authoritarian rule, Indonesia 
faces huge challenges in governance, which significantly 
limit the GOI's ability to fight trafficking.  Indonesia's 
emerging democratic structures commonly lack capacity and 
integrity, and face critical funding limitations. 
 
Overall, government funding for anti-trafficking remained 
very inadequate, a situation similar to the country's 
response to many other crimes and social ills.  Limited 
funding constrained central and local governments' 
assistance and protection efforts.  This included the GOI's 
ability to detect and assist victims on islands sometimes 
many hundreds of miles from the national and provincial 
capitals.  While the GOI did assist many Indonesians 
trafficked abroad, assistance and protection efforts, in 
particular for persons trafficked within Indonesia, 
remained very sporadic and did not reach most victims. 
Limited police budgets and lack of operational funds 
severely hampered investigations, many of which required 
travel to other police districts. 
 
CORRUPTION 
---------- 
 
President YudhoyonoQs strong anti-corruption stance 
resulted in action against officials complicit in 
trafficking in 2006.  Anti-corruption actions taken this 
year, while just a beginning, are unprecedented and send a 
clear message to corrupt officials.  The national police 
chief, the attorney general and the new director general of 
immigration all gave signals to subordinates that 
corruption would not be tolerated, taking their lead 
directly from the President.  As a result, GOI and NGO 
sources confirmed that several senior officials suspected 
of corruption that contributed to trafficking are either 
being investigated for corruption, were sanctioned, or were 
transferred to less sensitive positions.  New appointments 
of senior immigration and police officials with a 
reputation for honesty and with the will to crack down on 
trafficking further offered more hope for anti-trafficking 
 
 
 
 
efforts.  In addition, the following specific actions can 
be reported: 
 
On September 29, 2006 former Indonesian Consul General in 
Penang, Malaysia, Erik Hikmat Setiawan was sentenced by the 
Corruption Court in Jakarta to 20 months and fined of 100 
million rupiah in a passport corruption case.  Setiawan, 
was found guilty of collecting illegal charges by raising 
the cost of new immigration documentation.  This included 
the extension of passports as well as issuing of new 
passports for Indonesian citizens, especially laborers in 
Penang. 
 
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested Eda 
Makmur, a former Consul General in Johor Baru, Malaysia, 
for allegedly enriching himself by inflating fees for 
passport services and misusing his authority while serving 
as an Indonesian diplomat in Malaysia.  The commission said 
it had evidence Makmur had received illegal fees amounting 
to 302,000 ringgit (about US$86,285) during his term from 
2004 to 2006. 
 
Ministry of manpower told us that an airport official and 
four immigration officials were sanctioned and removed from 
Jakarta airportQs Terminal 3 in late 2006 for exploiting 
migrant workers returning from abroad.  End update. 
 
Corruption, which took firm root under the former Suharto 
government, remains widespread and deeply entrenched.  The 
legal system generally functions poorly and rule of law is 
weak, severely affecting GOI law enforcement efforts for 
all crimes, and TIP cases are no exception.  The police 
force is only slowly coming to grips with its proper role 
in a democracy and under civilian, rather than military, 
authority.  Corruption in Indonesia's legal system affects 
trafficking cases. According to NGO reports, and statements 
from officials and police, in recent years traffickers have 
used corruption in the legal process to their benefit to 
obtain reduced charges and sentences, to manipulate 
investigative reporting, and to avoid charges altogether. 
Often times, NGOs, officials and private citizens did not 
report information on corruption and illegal activities to 
the authorities because of concern over retribution or lack 
of trust in the system to take action in such cases. 
Corruption among government officials and institutions 
responsible for producing national identity cards, 
passports and other identifying documents contributed 
substantially to trafficking.  This particularly affected 
the trafficking of persons abroad and the trafficking of 
minors into prostitution. 
 
The Yudhoyono administration launched a new and promising 
anti-corruption campaign, breathing life into an existing 
Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and creating a 
special anti-corruption task force under the Attorney 
General's Office.  The campaign achieved some notable, 
high-profile successes in its first 16 months, but 
represented only the beginning of a very long process 
needed to significantly reduce endemic corruption. 
 
GOI MONITORING AND ASSESSMENTS 
------------------------------ 
 
Update: 
 
Senior GOI officials periodically evaluate the Government's 
performance, including serious shortcomings.  The GOI uses 
the National Anti-Trafficking Task Force to evaluate 
progress and shortcomings under the framework of the 
National Action Plan to combat trafficking.  Much of the 
task forceQs efforts went into final formulation of the 
comprehensive anti-trafficking bill.  This task force met 
four times in the past year. Based on direct Embassy 
 
observations and accounts by international NGOs and GOI 
officials the task forceQs meetings also resulted in 
noticeable cooperation between various agencies and NGOs. 
For example, NGOs are referring victims to trafficking 
units at police hospitals, where they receive treatment and 
counseling under social services and the health ministry, 
and are reintegrated back into their communities via social 
services.  Police and NGOs are cooperating in investigating 
cases where victims are willing to testify.  Police and 
prosecutors told us that are beginning to work more closely 
together. All government agencies are beginning to keep 
better statistics on trafficking problems and successes, so 
that the extent of the problem is better known.  Police and 
immigration both report closer cooperation, and more 
recently police and manpower officials said they have begun 
to cooperate.  End update. 
 
The Task Force had the following priorities for 2004-2007: 
 
-- Adoption of the comprehensive anti-trafficking law; 
-- Increase in public awareness campaigns and efforts; 
-- Promotion of better mechanisms for counter-trafficking 
programs at provincial and district levels; 
-- Full development of shelters in all provinces and in 
half of all districts; 
-- Strengthening the capacity of law enforcement officers 
and task forces at all levels; and 
-- Building data collection and information systems. 
 
As an example of its activity, a National Anti-Trafficking 
Task Force meeting, held in late February 2006, endorsed a 
number of practical actions, including: targeting the 
passage of the anti-trafficking bill in 2006; increasing 
GOI public awareness programs; increased attention to the 
role of falsified national identity documents in 
contributing to trafficking; better defining procedures for 
victims to access government services; development of an 
awards program for local government leaders who carry out 
significant anti-trafficking efforts; and needed follow-up 
with the Finance Ministry and the National Planning Board 
to explore more national and local level funding in 
anticipation of the end of foreign anti-trafficking 
assistance. 
 
The GOI produces and publicly distributes an annual anti- 
trafficking report, normally available by April of each 
year.  It completed its third annual report in early 2007 
and has begun drafting the next report. 
 
------------------------------ 
II. PREVENTION OF TRAFFICKING 
------------------------------ 
 
UPDATE 
------ 
 
A high level of media attention on trafficking continued in 
2006 with civil society continuing to press the media to 
pay attention to the crisis.  Several major articles were 
appearing in the media almost weekly.  For example, a major 
Surabaya newspaper did a series of hard hitting 
investigative articles exploring many facets of women and 
girls trafficked into prostitution.  A leading national 
news magazine had several strong articles about 
trafficking.  A national television news magazine show did 
a one-hour talk show on trafficking, interviewing a girl, 
now 16, who was trafficked to Malaysia and abused at age 
¶15.  The show also interviewed her parents, the brokers who 
trafficked her, and anti-trafficking NGOs experts (also 
showing the G/TIP Public Service Announcement (PSA) on 
trafficking).  Meanwhile, the GOI continued a program of 
national PSAs and distribution of written pamphlets and 
booklets on trafficking aimed at women and girls. 
 
 
TIP Hero Dewi Hughes and her foundation used her own money 
in 2006 to conduct a dialogue and press conference with 
five high-profile religious leaders from IndonesiaQs 
prominent religious institutions, resulting in the signing 
of a declaration calling for other religious leaders to 
mobilize against trafficking.  Members of three Muslim 
women association branches used video training to reach 
10,000 people.  At its own volition, a national Muslim 
organization, Lakpesdam NU, also developed and disseminated 
1,000 booklets for Muslim Leaders with talking points on 
human trafficking for Friday Prayer sermons.  This same 
group held a series of talks with expert speakers to 
educate its young members about the issue.  In Surabaya, a 
coalition of anti-trafficking NGOs met monthly at the 
American Consul GeneralQs home to coordinate their 
activities.  Another national Muslim organization, PP 
Muhammadiyah, with The Asia Foundation support, is creating 
fliers addressing trafficking issues and distributing them 
outside participating mosques following Friday prayers. 
Four such fliers have been created, and 32,000 copies were 
made of each.  To date, 124,000 fliers have been 
distributed at 21 mosques in 21 regencies, reaching 
approximately 100,000 community members, and this effort is 
continuing after international NGO support ended.  At the 
same time, the Association of Aceh Religious Students (RTA) 
has produced six opinion articles which have been published 
in two different newspapers, reaching approximately 30,000 
readers.  The national Scout movement continued to expand 
its anti-trafficking campaign in West Java.  The GOI made 
progress in achieving free basic education and free birth 
registrations in some districts.  The GOI began has 
introduced a biometric passport with improved security 
features. End update. 
 
GOVERNMENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF TRAFFICKING 
----------------------------------------- 
 
Update 
------ 
 
As explained throughout this report, the level of 
government acknowledgement of the trafficking problem has 
expanded dramatically. The various social service agencies 
already had a high awareness, but are now joined by police 
and immigration officials, whose understanding deepened 
greatly in 2006.  Judges now are beginning to understand 
the issue.  Ministry of Manpower officials have lagged 
behind but the creation of a new migrant worker protection 
agency is a hopeful sign. Acknowledgement of military 
officials complicit in trafficking has made no progress and 
government officials we spoke to were unwilling to 
acknowledge this complicity. End update. 
 
The GOI at the most senior levels acknowledges that 
trafficking is a serious problem that affects many 
Indonesian women and children.  This acknowledgement is 
reflected in presidential and ministerial-level statements, 
including clear public statements by President Yudhoyono in 
2005; three related national action plans; national and 
local anti-trafficking task forces; additional criminal 
sanctions included in the 2002 Child Protection Act; in the 
2006 Victim Protection Act; police actions to combat 
trafficking; and current GOI and DPR efforts to pass 
comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation. 
 
As an important signal of its recognition of the problem, 
the GOI seeks, accommodates and welcomes international 
assistance to fight the trafficking of Indonesian citizens, 
including in the area of law enforcement.  Indonesia 
actively participated in international, regional and sub- 
regional anti-trafficking events, including preparation and 
signing of the November 2004 ASEAN anti-trafficking 
 
declaration, and hosting of the ASEAN TIP workshop in 2005. 
President Yudhoyono and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah 
Badawi's January 2006 joint statement condemned trafficking 
as "an atrocious crime against humanity." 
 
Some GOI agencies, individual officials and local 
governments lagged behind in understanding and 
acknowledging TIP.  Others took anti-TIP actions without 
using the term "trafficking."  A number of senior civilian 
officials and law enforcement officers continue to believe 
that trafficking is a problem only for Indonesians 
victimized abroad and they do not acknowledge or admit the 
existence of internal trafficking, particularly for 
prostitution.  In general, trafficking 
within Indonesia's borders received less acknowledgment and 
priority than trafficking of Indonesians to other 
countries, though law enforcement actions against internal 
trafficking appeared to increase. 
 
HEFFERN