Ministry finds human trafficking indication in online gambling

“They are being lied to. They were promised to be placed in a legal place. It is legal in some countries, but in Indonesia, online gambling is illegal,”

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Ministry of Communication and Informatics found indications of human trafficking practices in cases of online gambling in Southeast Asia.

The ministry’s Director General of Information and Public Communication, Usman Kansong, conveyed this in a discussion entitled “Dying by Gambling” in Jakarta on Saturday (June 15).

According to him, many Indonesians are employed in the gambling business without being informed in advance about the actual job.

“We suspected a practice of human trafficking in online gambling. There are Indonesians employed in gambling locations, both online and physically,” Kansong explained.

He informed that Indonesians who were victims of human trafficking were employed on online gambling sites abroad.

“They are being lied to. They were promised to be placed in a legal place. It is legal in some countries, but in Indonesia, online gambling is illegal,” he continued.

He said he found those practices in gambling places in Southeast Asian countries.

Earlier, on April 23, he addressed that the online gambling task force would collaborate with Interpol to handle cross-border cases.

Similar to the Human Trafficking Task Force, Kansong stated that the Integrated Task Force for Online Gambling Eradication would collaborate with authorities in other countries to deal with online gambling practices as a whole.

“Without a task force, it will be hard to coordinate with other countries. With cooperation with other countries, we can carry out a comprehensive handling,” he conveyed.

Moreover, he said that the effort to involve Interpol was motivated by the discovery that online gambling servers targeting Indonesians came from abroad.

In October 2023, the ministry found those servers located in the Philippines and Cambodia. Therefore, cooperation with Interpol or authorities abroad will enable the government to take legal action against online gambling bookies.

“The Financial Services Authority (OJK) cannot block bank accounts originating from abroad. By collaborating with authorities in other countries, the handling can be comprehensive,” he remarked.

Kansong said the Integrated Task Force for Online Gambling Eradication would involve various ministries and institutions, including the Ministry of Communication and Informatics, OJK, the Center for Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis (PPATK), and the National Police.

The task force will work under the coordination of the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs.

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Translator: Narda Margaretha, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Arie Novarina
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