Photo: Johanes Widijantoro

KUALA LUMPUR - The Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia has assessed that efforts to prevent human trafficking remain weak.

A member of the Ombudsman, Johanes Widijantoro said that coordination among government agencies is the main reason for weak oversight.

He explained that each agency, including the Ministry of Immigration and Correctional Services, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, and Ministry of Manpower, has its own monitoring system.

“The lack of integration affects cross-agency coordination, which so far has been incidental and only moves after human trafficking cases emerge,” he said while presenting the Ombudsman’s Systemic Review, last Friday.

Johanes added that the Ombudsman’s findings also show there are no standard operating procedures or minimum service standards to regulate border monitoring or the protection of basic rights of prospective migrant workers at immigration checkpoints.

He noted that the capacity and integrity of officers in various regions are uneven, so early detection of irregular departures still occurs.

“This situation is worsened by the broader implications of unintegrated data, such as limited collaboration between agencies, sectoral oversight policies, uneven capacity of immigration officers, and fragmented prevention programs at the village level,” Johanes said.

The Ombudsman said that integrating monitoring systems at border crossings is a strategic step to reduce human trafficking cases.

The Chairman of the Ombudsman, Mokhammad Najih said that the rising number of trafficking victims shows weak early detection at border points.

“The Ombudsman not only receives public complaints but also prevents maladministration. System integration is the foundation for detecting and preventing human trafficking victims from the start,” he said.

In the first half of 2025, the Indonesian National Police Criminal Investigation Agency handled 189 human trafficking cases.

Director for the Protection of Women and Children and Eradication of Human Trafficking at the National Police, Brigadier General Nurul Azizah said these cases involved 546 victims, mostly women and children.

She detailed that the victims included 260 adult women, 45 girls, 228 adult men, and 23 boys.

“This shows that this crime is real, massive, and continues to target the most vulnerable groups in the country,” she said.

The cases were mainly based on police reports related to irregular placement of Indonesian migrant workers.

There were 117 reports on irregular placement, 48 on commercial sexual exploitation, and 24 on child exploitation.

Nurul said most trafficking victims came from West Java, North Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, and North Sumatra, with destinations including Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Syria, Dubai, and South Korea.

Many victims were employed in informal sectors, plantations, or as online scam operators.