Government Efforts in Overcoming the Crime of Trafficking in People Behind Rohingya Refugees

Abstract

The crime of human trafficking is no longer an unfamiliar event to be discussed. This crime is international in scale and very difficult to detect. Even though they have to be willing to pay a high price, they often use human smuggling methods because formal ways to enter other countries are not possible. The act of human smuggling is a criminal offense in the Smuggling Protocol in which countries visited by Rohingya refugees such as Thailand, Bangladesh, and even Indonesia have become party countries. As a result, the Thai and Bangladeshi governments often arrest Rohingya refugees who enter their countries and even expel them to return to Myanmar. In fact, as asylum seekers who are threatened with persecution, the Rohingya are protected by human rights law, especially the principle of non-refoulement. This research discusses obstacles to resolution in handling the crime of human trafficking and government policies regarding Rohingya refugees who are victims of the crime of human trafficking. The conclusion of this research is that although the Smuggling Protocol is able to provide a balance between law enforcement of human protection crimes and protection of asylum seekers, in the end it all depends on government policy in tackling criminal acts of human trafficking in Indonesia.