Susanto (facing wall), the owner of a boat that capsized off Malaysia on Dec. 15, is paraded before the media at a police press conference in Tanjung Uban Bintan in Indonesia's Riau Islands on Jan 3. Photo: Riau Islands police)
Indonesian police have arrested the owner of a boat that capsized last month off the coast of Malaysia, killing more than 20 migrant workers.
The arrest on Jan. 2 in Tanjung Uban Bintan in the Riau Islands comes as part of an investigation into the tragedy and into the smuggling of undocumented workers from Indonesia to Malaysia.
At least 21 people died and 16 are still listed as missing when the boat carrying 50 undocumented migrants from Batam, near Singapore, to Malaysia capsized off the coast of Johor on Dec. 15.
Harry Goldenhardt, spokesman of the Riau Islands provincial government, said local police had arrested the owner of the boat who was only identified as Susanto and who like many Indonesians only goes by one name.
The 48-year-old also owned accommodation where the migrant workers had stayed before setting off on the perilous voyage in stormy seas, Goldenhardt said on Jan. 3.
He revealed that police had also arrested two other suspects, identified as Juna Iskandar, 39, and Agus Salim, 48, both from Batam, on suspicion of being part of a human trafficking ring.
All people who are involved in this human tragedy and who benefit from the dark business in general must feel the full weight of the law
All face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of human trafficking.
Agency for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers chief Benny Rhamdani said police believe Susanto’s boat was often used to take migrant workers from Indonesia to Malaysia.
"His boat was also used to pick them up from Malaysia and bring them back without going through legal channels,” he said, basing his claims on what had been learned from among the 13 survivors of the tragedy and others who had been transported previously.
The migrant workers, he said, paid US$1,100 (15. 7 million rupiahs) to the smuggling gang.
It was also reported that two Indonesian military officers from the air force and the navy were connected to the smuggling ring.
Indonesia’s military chief Gen. Andika Perkasa said the reports were being investigated.
Father Chrisanctus Paschalis Saturnus, head of Pangkalpinang Diocese's Commission for Justice, Peace and Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, welcomed the arrests, saying the police need to be seen to be cracking down on human trafficking.
According to the Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, up to 30,000 Indonesians attempt to seek work abroad illegally by going through people smugglers.
“All people who are involved in this human tragedy and who benefit from the dark business in general must feel the full weight of the law,” Father Saturnus told UCA News on Dec. 4.
