Indonesia Highlights: Earthquake in Indonesia’s East Java Province Kills Eight, Injures 25 | Government to Build New Penitentiaries for Terrorists in the Nusakambangan Prison Island | BP2MI Indonesi

Minister of Legal and Human Rights Yasonna Laoly has announced plans to build three new penitentiaries for terror suspects on the Nusakambangan prison island, as terrorist assaults intensified with suicide attacks in Makassar, South Sulawesi province and Jakarta last March.

“We decided build the penitentiaries, following reports by the Attorney General’s Office [AGO] and the police that the Detachment 88 [Densus 88] counterterrorist unit that the holding cells it used for suspected terrorists at its headquarters in Cikeas, West Java has become overcrowded,” he said.

Yasonna attributed the overcrowding to the increasing number of arrests following the Makassar blasts, which killed the two suicide bombers and injured dozens of churchgoers who were leaving a Palm Sunday mass.

“The three penitentiaries [for terror suspects] in Nusakambangan should have differing security levels, from supermax, maximum security, to medium security if the [terrorist detainee] is sufficiently rehabilitated,” he added.

“Their construction is urgent, as prisoners held on terrorism charges cannot be integrated into the general population of other inmates. ”

Nusakambangan is known to detain terrorists, drug smugglers and other high-security prisoners. They include firebrand Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Baasyir, who was released on health grounds earlier this year, and members of the Bali Nine drug smuggling ring.

The island prison is also known as the site for the 2008 execution of militants Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Ali Ghufron due to their role in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed over 200 people, as well as Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran in 2015.

Source:

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/04/11/01115201/menkumham-sebut-pemerintah-akan-bangun-tiga-lapas-khusus-teroris-di. 

BP2MI Indonesian Workers Watchdog Saved 700 Migrant Workers From Human Trafficking Overseas

The BP2MI [Agency for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers] has rescued hundreds of Indonesian migrant workers from an uncertain fate overseas, during a series of raids over a nine month period dating back to 2020.

“We have raided the offices of 19 companies which were actually illegal placement agencies for over 700 migrant workers,” said BP2MI head Benny Ramdhani.

“The laborer have been on the verge of working illegally overseas, and might even have become victims of human trafficking, if we did not act. For that reason, we urge prospective migrant workers to solely rely on accredited Indonesian companies for before they worked overseas.”

He also called on Indonesian workers not to take news at face value, especially those from social media. “Many of the news on social media are hoaxes. Many are perhaps planted by those illegal companies who want revenge after we uncovered their operations. ”

However, the Secretary for the Business Association of Indonesian Labor Services [DPD Apjati], Ika Hikmah, disputed the claim. “We have yet to hear about BP2MI’s raids on placement companies in Central Java,” she maintained.

Thousands of Indonesian migrant workers go to the Middle East and Asia to work in such countries as Saud Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

Source:

https://regional.kompas.com/read/2021/04/11/050000978/bp2mi-selamatkan-700-orang-yang-akan-dipekerjakan-ke-luar-negeri-secara?page=all#page2.