INDONESIAN police on Tuesday found 193 Bangladeshis locked up in a shop after human traffickers had lured them with the promise of taking them to Malaysia. Police in the city of Medan on Sumatra Island were tipped off to the group by suspicious residents nearby. The men entered Indonesia as tourists via Bali and the city of Yogyakarta with the intention of going to Malaysia for work. “They are victims of human trafficking and were lured here,” North Sumatra’s Immigration Chief told the media. When police raided the shop they found the men, mostly in their 20s, occupying the two-storey building with many complaining about lack of food. Indonesian authorities suspected they have arrived there by boat as they don’t have any documents. One of the victims, named Mahbub 39-year old, was quoted by online news portal Tribun Medan as saying that some of the group had been held by the traffickers for three months. “All of us were conned. The destination was meant to be Malaysia. We left from Bangladesh to Bali and arrived here after taking a four-day bus trip,” Mahbub was quoted as saying.
This sort of news is nothing new. The human traffickers are still running their business despite several initiatives taken by the Bangladesh authorities. To get a low-paid job, these Bangladeshi youths take life risk on the way to Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries through rough sea. Several hundred voyagers have already been drowned in the sea, but the journey is not yet stopped. According to news media, hundreds of Bangladeshis are languishing in the prisons of Malaysia and Indonesia for going there without valid documents. Malaysian government recently has taken tough stance against these illegal migrants and conducted series of raids to catch them. Indonesia was never a friendly land for the human traffickers as well as illegal migrants. We feel sorry hearing that the victims have been fooled by the traffickers in the name of sending them to Malaysia, which is also hostile to the undocumented migrants.
The authorities concerned must take immediate steps to stop the human trafficking. Our youths would not show any interest for an uncertain life in the foreign lands, if we can arrange sufficient jobs and other facilities for them.
