The Ministry of Social Affairs Rehabilitates 12 Victims of Human Trafficking from Bandung

KEDIRI (October 4th, 2019) - "I'm going home to Jakarta, ma'am, I want to meet my mother and sister who live in Jakarta," said one teenager, TS (14).

He talked to the Head of “Mulya Jaya” Watunas Social Rehabilitation Center (BRSW) Jakarta Juena Sitepu with a happy face.

TS is very happy. She is one of 12 teenagers that currently in the Kediri Bina Karya Social Rehabilitation Unit (RSBK) owned by the East Java Province Social Service.

This teenager was entrusted by the East Java Situbondo Police Station because of a trafficking case.

"They have not been sleeping at night, they packed the stuff to be brought to Jakarta. Even from morning there are those who do not want to eat and do not want to take a shower because they really want to rush to Jakarta. I have been waited by the children since dawn, "said one of the UPT security guards, Sarno, when welcoming the arrival of the group of  the head of " Mulya Jaya " BRSW in the UPT Kediri.

This case began when the Situbondo Police rescued 12 women from Bandung from a karaoke area who was suspected to be a victim of human trafficking. Out of 12 women, 11 of them were children and one adult.

"According to their confession to the police they came from Bandung, but it was not proven by their identity," Juena said.

Juena added that the police had secured these teenagers in Kotakan Village, Situbondo District, East Java because of reports from the community members to the police.

According to Juena, they are employed as commercial sex workers, but they seem to live and work in karaoke houses.

"They were entrusted by Situbondo Police Station in Kediri UPT RSBK since August 2nd, 2019. For two months they were in the Kediri UPT RSBK and received basic social rehabilitation services," he explained.

"Mulya Jaya" BRSW, Juena continued, also sent the "Mulya Jaya" BRSW Social Worker team to do the case response to find out the background of the problem as well as conduct an assessment.

Furthermore, the rehabilitation center team also performed Trauma Healing and Psychosocial Therapy for the teenage children.

The initial psychological condition of these 12 teenagers when they were first secured by the police, they were in desperate conditon, they experienced anxiety, fear, depressed and anxious about the situation at that time, because according to their confession they were the family's backbone.

During their work at karaoke, they always routinely send money to their families in Bandung.

If they are seen physically, the appearance of 12 teenagers looks older than their actual age, where the bodies of these children are already filled with tattoos, even though the characters and behavior of children are still attached to them.

Juena explained that after going through the examination and filing process by the Situbondo Regional Police and the East Java District Attorney, a Case Conference (CC) was conducted on the cases and conditions experienced by these 12 girls and the follow-up actions that must be taken.

Based on the results of the CC and the assessment, the meeting participants decided that these 12 children should be immediately referred to the "Mulya Jaya" BRSW  to receive Further Rehabilitation services.

The Case Conference was attended by representatives of the Situbondo Regional Police Station, West Java Regional Police, the East Java Provincial Social Service, the West Java Provincial Social Service, the West Java Provincial Child and Women's Empowerment Office, the Situbondo Social Workers Community and "Mulya Jaya" BRSW Jakarta representative.

After obtaining the CC results and coordinating with the Head of UPT RSBK Kediri, the Team Head of "Mulya Jaya" BRSW immediately went to Kediri to reach out to these 12 girls to be brought to "Mulya Jaya" BRSW  Jakarta.

From July to October 2019 "Mulya Jaya" BRSW  Jakarta had received 70 victims of human trafficking referred from various regions such as Pontianak, Batam, Indramayu, Cianjur, Medan, Jakarta and Kediri. Almost all who were victims were young women who dropped out of school and from broken home family. In the future, the rehabilitation center will be focus more on promoting prevention of human trafficking victims.

"We are preparing a further social rehabilitation program outside the rehabilitation center which focuses on Family Support and Social Care, because after all family support and community participation are very important to prevent children becoming victims of trafficking," said Wena.