Trafficking Humans to Malaysia
Indonesian workers are still being sent to Malaysia illegally. According to data from the East Nusa Tenggara police, over 2,000 people from the region were victims of trafficking to Malaysia throughout 2015 and 2016. Lured by promises of large salaries, workers have returned home with physical injuries, with some even losing their lives. Children are also targeted and sold. Sadly, even those holding work permits are not immune to servitude. Tempo and Malaysiakini’s investigation since September 2016 exposed an organized network of human traffickers spanning between Malaysia and certain parts of Indonesia. Billions of rupiah have been spent on recruitment of illegal workers, involving identity forgers and immigration officials. Perpetrators in Malaysia remain impervious to the law. This report is a collaborative project between Tempo, the Tempo Institute and Free Press Unlimited.
March 21, 2017
TEN months after she ran away from home, Yufrinda Selan finally came back, one day before her 19th birthday, on July 14 last year. But it was not a cause for celebration for her family in south-central Timor in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), where she was born. Instead, they mourned her untimely death. After secretly working in Malaysia, Yufrinda, who never finished high school, came home in a coffin, wrapped in a white shroud.
On the day of her birt
...