JAKARTA – Indonesia and Cambodia discussed their commitment to cooperate in eradicating human trafficking at the 26th Asean Directors-General of Immigration Departments and Heads of Consular Affairs Divisions of the Foreign Affairs Ministry (DGICM) forum.
The 26th annual meeting of immigration director general and consular affairs for Southeast Asia took place from August 8-11 in Phuket, Thailand.
Indonesia, represented by Immigration director-general of Law and Human Rights Ministry, Silmy Karim, met with Cambodian Immigration Delegation head Chantarith Kirth at the meeting.
“During the meeting, I conveyed that there were many Indonesians becoming victims of online gambling, online fraud, and even kidney trading,” Karim said in a statement received here, Friday, reported Antara news agency.
Karim remarked that based on an explanation from the Cambodian delegation, the country used to legalise online gambling activities. However, the licence for gambling operations and online gambling has been revoked and declared illegal since June 2019.
“In 2022, the local authority carried out an operation in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, which was suspected to be a gambling centre. More than 200 people were arrested, and most of them came from Indonesia,” Karim stated.
After the operation, Indonesians, who were indicated as victims, were protected by the Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh, he noted.
“Those who were indicated as victims were temporarily placed in social services, while those who were not victims were placed in the Cambodian Immigration detention room,” he noted.
Karim revealed that the issue of kidney trade was new information received by the Cambodian government. Meanwhile, for the Indonesian government, his office has appealed to immigration officers to take preventive and protective measures to fight human trafficking.
According to Karim, immigration plays an important role in passport issuance and immigration checks at the Immigration Checkpoint (TPI).
In passport applications, immigration officers must conduct in-depth identification or profiling for applicants, who are indicated to be providing incorrect information. For those indicated applicants, their passport applications can be suspended for up to two years, he said.
To serve as a deterrent effect, the Immigration Directorate-General will take steps so that the postponement of passport applications can be extended for up to three years, he stated.
Karim said that immigration inspection at TPI is also a second filter for preventing human trafficking. He noted that delays in departure could be made if indications were found in a person to be a migrant worker.
“Regarding human trafficking, which has claimed many victims, we agree that Indonesia will initiate a cooperation agreement with Cambodia as a follow-up. We hope that it will be completed in the near future,” he said. – Bernama, August 11, 2023
