Jakarta, IO – National Police Criminal Investigation Bureau (Bareskrim) revealed that 25 Indonesians that fell victim to human trafficking in in Myanmar were often beaten and their salary reduced if they missed the target in their jobs.
“They suffered physical violence from being forced to stand under scorching sun, told to squat jump and other punishments. Some of them were even beaten, electrocuted and locked up,” said General Crimes Investigation director Pol. Brig. Gen. Djuhandhani Rahardjo Puro, reported Sindonews, Wednesday (17/5).
He explained that the victims were employed by an online scamming company owned by Chinese citizens. They were told to find potential victims on social media, such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Djuhandhani said the victims were housed in a heavily-guarded building patrolled by security guards. Initially, they were promised to only work for 12 hours as Online Marketing Operators.
“But in reality they were forced to work for 16-18 hours each day. They were also given the promise that they could return to Indonesia once every six months,” he said.
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They were lured by promise of salary to the tune of Rp12 million to Rp15 million. But in reality, the victims were only paid a maximum Rp3 million per month. “Some of them have even not been paid,” he said.
Bareskrim has named two suspects namely Anita Setia Dewi and Andri Satria Nugraha. Both of them were accused of violating Article 4 of Law 21/2007 on the Crime of Trafficking in Persons and/or Article 81 of Law 18/2017 on Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI). (at)