Modern slavery

"Indonesia had among the strongest government responses to modern slavery within Asia and the Pacific, performing well relative to its wealth compared to higher-income neighbours. The government improved its criminal justice response by outlawing forced marriage in April 2022, and raising the minimum marriage age of girls in 2019 to align with the minimum age for boys. However gaps in legislation still allow child marriage to occur. Opportunities for the government to strengthen its response include fully funding the implementation of the National Action Plan for the Prevention and Handling of the Crime of Trafficking in Persons 2020-2024 (NAP), improving efforts to identify and support survivors, and addressing modern slavery in supply chains. Indonesia has the 10th highest prevalence of modern slavery in the region, and vulnerability is driven by discrimination against minority groups and poverty.” “The 2023 Global Slavery Index (GSI) estimates that over 1.8 million people were living in modern slavery in Indonesia on any given day in 2021, a prevalence of 6.7 people for every thousand people in the country. This places Indonesia within the top 10 out of 27 countries in the Asia Pacific region when ranked by prevalence of modern slavery, and 62nd out of 160 countries globally. The populous nation also ranks within the top 10 countries in the world in terms of the estimated total number of people living in modern slavery.” Forced labour exploitation is reported in several sectors including fishing and fish processing, palm oil production, logging, construction, mining, and manufacturing, with women and girls facing additional risks of forced labour in domestic services. Forced labour of children is also reported in domestic work, fishing, begging, and in the movement of illicit drugs. In 2022, the Indonesian National Police (INP) reported investigating 89 cases of cross-border labour trafficking, a substantial increase from 16 cases in 2021. Modern slavery is deeply connected to environmental exploitation. For example, Indonesia produces the world’s second largest proportion of global fish catch, yet illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing has led to declining fish stocks and consequently, labour exploitation as a means to reduce costs. In 2014, the Indonesian government banned foreign fishing vessels operating in its waters to prevent IUU fishing, and following the identification of over 1,300 foreign fisherman trafficked to Indonesia for exploitation aboard IUU fishing vessels in 2015, the government intensified its crackdown, seizing and sinking foreign vessels violating the ban. While this reduced the presence of vulnerable foreign fisherman, a 2019 study found that local fisherman (including internal migrants) continue to be exploited through debt bondage, salary deductions, and inhumane working conditions. Similar abuses have been documented alongside environmental exploitation in the production of palm oil, a common ingredient in soap, food products, and other everyday items. Indonesia is the world’s largest exporter of palm oil, and according to a 2020 investigation, international beauty brands and financial institutions have both been connected to severe abuses in the country’s palm oil industry, including rape, threats, labour exploitation, and slavery. Workers are also vulnerable to modern slavery in illegal forest clearing for palm oil plantations, with a large number of plantations established without the required permits. Increased carbon emissions, pollution, and flooding driven by illegal logging can reduce plantation profitability which in turn can fuel further exploitation of workers to recoup costs. Indonesian migrant workers are vulnerable to being trafficked overseas by unscrupulous local recruitment agencies, including for exploitation in fishing, domestic work, and online scam centres. In April 2023, three individuals were convicted of human trafficking in Indonesia after recruiting workers for exploitation in online scam centres in Cambodia. The workers were promised jobs marketing cryptocurrency, but had their passports withheld and were forced to scam victims in Australia, Europe, and China under threats of physical abuse. One worker was told he would have to pay almost US$2,000 to leave.