THE REPORTER | Head of Public Relations of the Aceh Police, Senior Commissioner Pol. Joko Krisdiyanto stated that the presence of Rohingya immigrants who are still on a ship four nautical miles from the Labuhan Haji plains, South Aceh Regency, is purely a criminal act of human trafficking (TPPO)
“This is reinforced by the arrest of three suspected human smugglers with the initials F (35), A (33), and I (32). In addition, eight other people are still being pursued by officers,” said Senior Commissioner Pol. Joko Krisdiyanto, Monday, October 21, 2024.
He said that the disclosure of the case began with the discovery of a woman’s body around the waters of Labuhan Haji Port, on Thursday (17/10/2024).
Then, the day after there was a public report that a motorboat was drifting about four nautical miles from the coast of Labuhan Haji.
“After investigation, it turned out that there were 150 Rohingya immigrants on the ship, three of whom had died,” said Joko Krisdiyanto.
From the results of the investigation, it was discovered that the Rohingya immigrants departed between October 9 and 12, 2024 from Cox’s Bazar, a refugee camp in Bangladesh, to the Andaman Sea.
“Then, they sailed from the Andaman Sea to the waters of Labuhan Haji after being reported to the fishing boat KM Bintang Raseuki,” said Joko Krisdiyanto.
Meanwhile, the Director of General Criminal Investigation of the Aceh Police, Senior Commissioner Ade Harianto, said that the KM Bintang Raseuki was purchased by the alleged perpetrator for IDR 580 million a month ago.
“The wooden motorboat is known to belong to a resident of Labuhan Haji, South Aceh, with the initials H. The Rohingya immigrants are suspected of arriving in the waters of South Aceh on Wednesday (161/10/2024),” he said.
On the ship, the initial number of Rohingya was 216 people. They allegedly paid a sum of money as a fee for departure to a certain country.
After being in the waters of Labuhan Haji, as many as 50 of them allegedly managed to get to Pekanbaru, Riau, at a cost of IDR 20 million, but were only paid IDR 10 million for travel costs.
“From the information obtained, they were reported from the Andaman Sea to be taken to the mainland. And this confirms that this is purely a criminal act of human trafficking,” said Ade Harianto.
He said the three suspected perpetrators who were arrested were charged with Article 120 Paragraph (1) Aan paragraph (2) of Law Number 6 of 2011 concerning immigration.
Then, violating Article 286 Paragraph (1) and paragraph (4) of Law Number 17 of 2008 concerning shipping transportation without a permit resulting in the death of another person.
As well as Article 2 Paragraph (1) and Paragraph (2) in conjunction with Article 3 of Law Number 21 of 2007 concerning the eradication of TPPO and Article 2 Paragraph (1) letter (j) in conjunction with Article 3 of Law Number 8 of 2010 concerning the crime of money laundering.
“The handling of the case against the alleged perpetrators is carried out by a joint team from the Aceh Police and the South Aceh Police. Meanwhile, the handling of the Rohingya ethnic group will be coordinated with immigration, IOM, UNHCR, and other related agencies,” said Ade Harianto.[AR]