Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and SecurityAffairs Mahfud MD announced on April 6 that competent agencies had discovered three human trafficking rings in border areas, mostly in northSumatra, Riau and Kalimantan islands.
These rings conduct humantrafficking activities both through "back-door" channels forundocumented victims and "front-door" channels via internationalports. Bar codes on the cargo declaration form are also used to mark whichtrafficking victims will pass through the port, he said.
Earlier, the Foreign Ministry announced that as many as 752 victims were trafficked in Indonesia last year, doubling that in 2021.
Under the Indonesian Law on Protection ofMigrant Workers, international human trafficking offenders could face a maximumjail sentence of 10 years and a maximum fine of 15 billion rupiah(approximately 1 million USD)./.
