Jakarta, IO – As a maritime country with abundant marine and fisheries resources, Indonesia has ended up in an ironic position, as wealth is inversely proportional to human resources protection management. Crew Members (ABK), including migrant workers in commerce and fisheries, are often subjected to violations of normative rights, human trafficking crimes, slavery, and victimized with other human rights violations.
Human Trafficking Crimes (TPPO) in the maritime and fisheries sectors remain a difficult issue to resolve, with various TPPO cases involving victims among fisheries workers being identified with different operations.
Despite a positive assessment of the TPPO by the United States (US), Indonesia has admitted that TPPO crimes are difficult to eliminate. The United States evaluation was released in mid-June 2023 by the Department of State, with research titled “Trafficking in Persons” (TIPs) a work that studied and commented on Indonesia’s review, which has been raised to Tier 2 watchlist status.
One of the reasons for the upgrade is a recognition of Indonesia’s commendable efforts in controlling TPPO. However, certain expert observers have remarked that Indonesia’s attempts to prevent TPPO continue to fall short of international minimal standards, as conveyed at a webinar “Beyond the Horizon: Unveiling the Untold Story of Fishery Exploitation and Human Rights Challenges” on Saturday, December 23, 2023.
According to Nukila Evanty, Chairperson of the Civil Society Coalition Against Human Trafficking & Organized Crime, Human Rights (HR) at sea must include freedom from violence, violations of migrant workers’ rights, piracy-related violence, neglect of sailors, slavery, human trafficking, child labor and failures in equality and inclusion.
According to Nukila, the TPPO issue is extremely complicated, requiring a variety of HR approaches. To begin, human rights violations at sea are frequently underreported, unenforced, or improperly addressed. Second, victims, particularly crew members and migrant workers are falling, being attacked at sea, missing, and dying. Third, men, women, and children at sea are always at risk, and could be in danger at any time.
Fourth, people at sea are hard to reach, contact, reach out to, and can never know their fate. “Often, their human rights are violated. Those who are mistreating vulnerable groups are rarely exposed and punished,” explained Nukila.
There are four human resources principles at sea that must be adhered to: first, universal human rights apply equally on land and at sea. Second, discrimination-free on land and at sea without any distinction. Third, uniformity. Fourth, principles must be based on shared international agreements and international customs.
According to Nukila, marginalized vulnerable groups consist of fishermen, sailors, Crew Members (ABK), migrant workers at sea, workers in the offshore oil & gas sector and refugees.
Data from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries reports how human trafficking crime in the fisheries sector has affected 4,000 people, including child labor and forced labor. “This is a complex issue,” warned Nukila.
Numerous human trafficking cases carry across national borders, such as the case of PT. Pusaka Benjina Resources, a Thai fishery company affiliated with an Indonesian company, that recruited Myanmar laborers and treated them as slaves. There is the case of Arlan Mobilingo, a crew member from Gorontalo working in the waters of Luanda, Angola. Arlan reported an assault by the ship’s captain, resulting in a bleeding injury to his ear. Arlan complained about this to the Indonesian Overseas Workers Union. Third, a case involving a crew member, Purnomo Susanto, from Tanjung Priok, a fishery worker in the waters off Uruguay, who was frequently beaten by the ship’s Chinese captain, resulting in illness.
Assaults and crimes in the fisheries sector impel Nukila to advocate for this particular vulnerable group, for a number of reasons: first, they work in an isolated workplace and for a long period, an environment which can trigger violations without any possibility of intervention. The other reason is that migrant workers are mostly in a vulnerable position, with some even trapped into forced labor in the fisheries sector. Next, migrant workers lack access to their own identity documents, making it difficult for them to quit their jobs and escape from a workplace.
The port state, flag state, and coastal state are three crucial elements to address labor issues in the fisheries sector. The port state monitors flag states and urges them to comply with international regulations in the condition, operation, and manning of a vessel, particularly in regard to human rights standards on ships/voyages, taking necessary action in cases of neglected or violated rights.
Meanwhile, the coastal state monitors flag states, influencing them to comply with human rights during voyages/onboard when a ship is in their inland waters, ensuring that national laws are also applied in territorial waters, to better defend human rights at sea.
To respect and protect human rights at sea, all flag states, port states, and coastal states must be responsible in carrying out their duties. “To end prohibited practices against internationally-accepted human rights laws, flag states must comply with international human rights legal standards on ships, at sea and in territorial waters,” she added.
To protect the rights of workers in the fisheries sector, regulations, ranging from policies to laws, have been codified, one example of which is International Conventions, such ILO Convention No. 188/2007 on Work in Fishing: it aims at providing decent work on board for seafarers. The Recommendation for Work in Fishing Convention 2007 addresses technical safety, maritime qualifications, stability of fishing vessels, new fisheries monitoring on ships and personal protective equipment. The Maritime Labor Convention also regulates the rights of seafarers.
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Unfortunately, these regulations have failed to provide solutions for migrant workers in the maritime and fisheries sectors. Nukila added that data on the number of human trafficking victims at sea is insufficient. Moreover, Indonesia has suffered economic losses due to human trafficking cases. “There is no further study on the cost of human trafficking, both for the country and the victims involved,” explains Nukila.
Five recommendations are proposed to better tackle the issue: first, establishing an easy and prompt complaint mechanism for any human rights violations. Second, ratifying the ILO Convention C 188, to protect workers in the maritime and fisheries sectors. Third, actively collaborating with destination countries, particularly on wage payment procedures, occupational safety, and health. Fourth, implementing joint inspection mechanisms and monitoring mechanisms to fulfill workers’ rights. Fifth, collaboration with civil society to facility research on human trafficking, forced labor, and fisheries crimes in the Indonesian fishing industry, as well as manifesting prevention of similar crimes in the future. (des)
