Some stories of trafficking

“Since my mom died, I’ve lived with my aunt, my dad’s sister. My dad, he rarely visit us. I have to work to survive. I never went to school. At first, I worked at a canteen in a ferry that serves the route Bali-Lombok. One day, a man from my village offered me a job at a canteen in Sumbawa. I felt doubt actually, but then I took the job. I was so surprised about the job. He said I would work at a canteen, but it was a pub! At the pub, I insisted to work to play the music, because one night, a man tried to kiss me! Since that, I don’t want to serve the guests! Actually, I want to go home (in Lombok), but I don’t have enough money. One night, when there was an operation (because the café is illegal), I hid and found by a police man. Then, they took me to Lombok, to the social bureau shelter.”

(This story was told by the survivor of trafficking; When the interview was made in 2008, she was 17 years old; Lombok and Sumbawa are two different islands, which are located in West Nusa Tenggara Province)

“When I was 15, a woman came to my house and met my parents. She told my parents how good it is to work abroad. I know that a lot of my friends at my age, they work abroad, and I do want to work abroad! I’m bored with school. At first, my parents were not allowed me, but because this woman kept insisting, they then allowed me to. And my mom thought this woman was nice and polite, so she thought I’d be fine with this woman. Besides, my elder sister, she works in Riyadh and she’s okay, and she can support our family. So then I left and was brought to a place where I’d never been before. They said it was a transit place before we went to Malaysia. There, I lived in a house with couple of women. One day, I accidentally heard a conversation between my boss and someone on the mobile phone. My boss said, “There is new comer!” I didn’t know what it meant, so I asked my friend. She said, “You’re stupid!”. She then she explained that we’d be sold! I was so shocked! So then, me and my friends, we made plan to run away.”

(This story was told by the survivor of trafficking; She and her friends were rescued by local people, then brought home with the assistance of local NGOs in Tanjung Pinang (an area located in Riau Isles Province), Sumbawa and IOM)

“During the conflict in Timor Leste, she and her family fled to Atambua. They stayed there. In April 2007, a man who admits as a shop owner in Surabaya offered her a job to work at his shop. She believed it because this man said that he was friend of this priest, that nun. So, she left. And never came back. She’s just gone without news. The man also never showed up again. It is believed he used the same modus to recruit 14 kids (boys and girls) in the village.”

(The story was told by a staff of local NGO ; Atambua is located in East Nusa Tenggara, which is now cross-border with Timor Leste; Surabaya is the capital city of East Java province; Surabaya is one of the biggest receiving and transit area for trafficking in Indonesia; Surabaya has the biggest prostitute area in South-East Asia, called Dolly).