[ Human Trafficking, Country-by-Country ]

INDONESIA (Tier 2) – Extracted in part from the U.S. State Dept 2023 TIP Report

The Government of Indonesia does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, if any, on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore Indonesia was upgraded to Tier 2. These efforts included increasing investigations, prosecutions, and convictions for suspected trafficking crimes, including forced labor on a palm oil plantation and in foreign cyber scam operations; and securing increased restitution for trafficking victims. The government also identified and repatriated several hundred Indonesian forced labor victims from Cambodia as part of its multinational coordinative efforts to address forced labor in cyber scam operations, passed an implementing regulation to the 2017 Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers Law to improve labor conditions in the fishing sector, and finalized its 2020-2024 NAP. However, the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. For the second consecutive year, the government did not report identifying or investigating any forced labor cases in fishing, and it continued to not fully prioritize the staffing or funding for effective oversight of this sector, despite long-standing, pervasive trafficking concerns. Official complicity in trafficking remained a concern the government did not adequately address. The government lacked a national SOP to identify trafficking victims in all sectors, which continued to hinder proactive victim identification, especially of males. Government shelters confiscated some victims’ passports and imposed severe restrictions on movement and employment such that most victims left the shelters and did not participate in cases against traffickers. The government continued to administratively mediate most potential trafficking cases involving Indonesian migrant workers, which did not provide for criminal liability or adequately deter traffickers. The 2007 anti-trafficking law did not prohibit all forms of trafficking, as it required a demonstration of force, fraud, or coercion to constitute a child sex trafficking crime.

Prioritized Recommendations

Increase efforts to vigorously investigate and prosecute trafficking crimes, and convict traffickers, including complicit officials.

Amend the 2007 law to remove the required demonstration of force, fraud, or coercion to constitute child sex trafficking.

Allow shelter residents freedom of movement, possession of their travel documents, and the ability to work.

Develop – and disseminate widely – SOPs for proactive victim identification and train law enforcement, foreign affairs, marine, and labor officials on their use.

Increase resources for and proactively offer all victims, including males, comprehensive services.

Increase efforts to effectively monitor labor recruitment agencies, including in the fishing sector; implement all labor laws and regulations; and, through the 2022 regulation, develop and implement employer-paid orientations for Indonesian and migrant fishermen.

Provide regular anti-trafficking training for judges, prosecutors, police, and social workers.

Increase resources for the anti-trafficking task force and improve its coordination across ministries.

Ensure ministries and agencies fulfill their obligations to fund and implement anti-trafficking activities under the 2020-2024 NAP.

Establish a data collection system to track anti-trafficking efforts at all levels of law enforcement.

Increase awareness of trafficking trends and vulnerabilities among local village leaders.

Create a national protocol that clarifies roles for prosecuting trafficking cases outside victims’ home provinces.

Screen any North Korean workers for signs of trafficking and refer them to appropriate services, in a manner consistent with obligations under United Nations Security Council resolution 2397.

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