Scores of Seafood Slaves in Indonesia, Officials Turned Blind Eye: Report

Jakarta Globe, Tri Listiyarini, Apr 05, 2015

Maritime and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti says she will closely monitor
 fishing companies operating in Indonesia to prevent slave labor. (Reuters
Photo/Tim Wimborne)

Jakarta. Maritime and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti pledged to closely monitor fishing companies operating in Indonesia after a year-long Associated Press investigation revealed at least one Indonesian firm — and likely many more — using slave labor.

Susi said she was disturbed to learn Pusaka Benjina Resources had been keeping 327 workers, mainly from Myanmar, working in captivity without pay, on pain of torture or even death.

Her office has since shut down the company, based in Benjina, in Maluku’s Aru Islands district.

“We will launch an investigation; we will sanction [those involved],” the minister said on the sidelines of her visit to a fishing village in Pangandaran, West Java.

“In Benjina, even though the victims are foreigners, Indonesia felt it must take action because [the case] happened within Indonesia’s jurisdiction,” she said.

Susi said her office quickly inspected other fishing companies operating in Benjina and found 1,185 fishermen working there, mostly from Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar, in slave-like conditions.

The minister said there was rampant evidence that other firms in the area were using slave labor — and had been for years.

With the help of sympathetic locals, the AP interviewed the Myanmar workers, who said they were forced to work 22 hours a day, whipped with toxic stingray tails, denied any pay, and barred from returning to their home country or tell anyone about their plight. Some were put in cages.

The director general for monitoring maritime resources, Asep Burhanuddin,  said the ministry formed a task force with the local prosecutors, immigration offices, the Indonesian Navy and National Police.

On Friday, days after the story broke, task force officials deployed to Benjina for a crackdown.

“We were able to confirm that there are slavery practices [at PBR],” Asep told Detik on Sunday. “Some were electrocuted for the tiniest mistake like falling to sleep. This is inhumane.”

The workers, some of whom have been slaves for nine years, were taken to the Tual, some 100 kilometers west of Aru Islands, where they were repatriated.

Company officials have been charged with human trafficking and violating the Manpower Law while the task force investigates who else may have been involved.

Sixty years on

The Jakarta Post, Antara, Jakarta | Mon, 02/15/2010 3:00 PM

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty M. Natalegawa (right) and his counterpart Kasit Piromya of Thailand speak at a press conference in Jakarta. The ministers met Monday to discuss the celebration of 60 years of the countries’ relationship and to strengthen ties in the trade, fishery, agriculture and energy sectors. (Antara/Widodo S. Jusuf)

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RI help towards solving southern thailand conflict appreciated

Indonesia urges developed nations to fix crisis

Reuters, Ed Davies, Sat Mar 28, 2009 6:49am EDT

MEDAN, Indonesia (Reuters) - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono urged on Saturday developed nations to clean up their banks and to make "full-blown efforts" to stabilize the financial markets.

"Indonesia hopes developed countries will clean up their banking system," Yudhoyono, who is due to attend next week's G20 meeting in Britain, told a news conference in the North Sumatran city of Medan.

Indonesia's central bank warned on Friday that Southeast Asia's biggest economy could see growth slow to 3-4 percent this year, from 6 percent in 2008 as exports slide.

Reflecting weak global demand for key commodities such as palm oil and rubber, and for goods such as cars, auto parts and electronics, Indonesia's exports plunged in January at their fastest pace in more than two decades.

Other emerging economies such as Brazil have also pressed the urgent need for developed economies to take the lead in helping fix the global crisis.

Since the G20 accounted for about 80 percent of the global economy, Yudhoyono said it was "extremely crucial that the next summit yields concrete results that could help end the global recession."

The president said Indonesia had set up a 73.3 trillion rupiah ($6.39 billion) stimulus package to help support its economy, but that would only go so far.

"Unfortunately, it won't help overcome the global economic downturn," said Yudhoyono, who is seeking a second term in office this year and held the news conference after attending a campaign rally for his Democrat Party.

"I would like to see developed countries make full-blown efforts to stabilize the financial market and make sure the real sector is up and running again."

The president said he had held talks on Saturday with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who will also attend the G20, to "synchronize the position of developing countries at the summit."

Thailand is attending the G20 because it currently chairs the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

"We are preparing our recommendations and proposals," Yudhoyono said, adding he hoped the global economy would see a recovery next year.

(Additional reporting by Karima Anjani in Jakarta; editing by Sue Thomas)

Asian economies differ in response to global crisis

Aditya Suharmoko, THE JAKARTA POST, JAKARTA | Tue, 03/24/2009 9:10 AM

The road to economic recovery varies across Asian countries, with Indonesia, China and India perhaps the least affected by the global economic crisis, a seminar heard Monday.

China and India, two of the fastest growing economies in the world, are expected to still post positive economic growth this year, despite slowing from the past few years. Indonesia will also score positive growth, although it may be about 30 percent slower than in 2008.

The International Monetary Fund has said global growth may contract by between 0.5 percent and 1.5 percent this year.

“There is great hope that emerging economies, such as China and India, will launch new Keynesian initiatives leveraging private-sector funds and become the new engines of global growth that will drive the world economy to growth and prosperity once again,” said Naoyuki Yoshino, a professor at Keio University in Tokyo.

He was presenting his paper at a seminar titled “East Asia’s response to the global economic crisis” in Jakarta on Monday.

Yoshino said developed countries would be restricted from issuing government bonds to finance fiscal stimulus measures due to enormous fiscal deficits.

Japan, for instance, has public debts amounting to 180 percent of its GDP.Keynesian policies usually call for financing fiscal stimulus by issuing government bonds during hard times.

But Yoshino said issuing “revenue bonds” could be a way to utilize private sector funds.

With revenue bonds, the government bears a portion of infrastructure costs, with the remaining costs funded by the private sector through the issuance of revenue bonds, he said.

“The private sector will get return based on the expected revenue from the project to be constructed,” Yoshino said.

“In some Asian countries, notably China and India, domestic demand will increase when their economies are revitalized through efficient infrastructure development.”

South Korea, as a trade-dependent country, needs developed countries to aim their economic stimulus package at infrastructure, which may help recover South Korea’s falling exports.

As an example, financial aid to Detroit automakers in the US will affect the competitiveness of South Korea’s automakers.

Meanwhile, Indonesia, whose economy is mainly dependent on domestic demand, has allocated Rp 12.2 trillion (US$1.05 billion) for the development of infrastructure and the rural sector.

University of Indonesia economist M. Chatib Basri said spending on labor-intensive infrastructure projects would have a significant impact on job opportunities and economic growth.

The seminar was also of the opinion that Indonesia was relatively better off than neighboring countries in coping with the global crisis, with Thailand and the Philippines severely hit by the crisis.

“Fiscal policy is the only option left,” Bhanupong Nidhiprabha, an associate professor at Thammasat University, wrote in his paper.

“Unless the government maintains law and order to restore business sentiment and consumer confidence, both monetary and fiscal stimuli will fail miserably.”

Thailand’s political condition is far more unstable compared to Indonesia.

The country has seen chaotic power struggles in the past two years.

The Philippines may be facing an even worse economic situation, as the monetary policy has not been unable to accelerate lending, and with its fiscal policy “constrained by a historically poor ability to raise the tax to GDP ratio”, said Maria Socorro H. Gochoco Bautista, a professor at the University of the Philippines, in her paper.

“The right kind of expenditures needs to be undertaken,” she said.

“These might include direct cash transfers to the poor in exchange for a promise to keep children in school.

“Allowing peso depreciation, assuming enough workers remain employed abroad, will also boost incomes of the poor and middle classes to sustain spending.”

Major banks slash growth SE Asian growth f'casts

Reuters, Thu Mar 19, 2009 11:49am IST

SINGAPORE, March 19 (Reuters) - Major investment banks slashed growth forecasts for Southeast Asian economies, with one predicting an 8 percent contraction in Singapore, as the weakening global economy hits the region's key export industry.

Goldman Sachs now expects Singapore's gross domestic product to fall 8 percent this year from a previous forecast for a 4 percent contraction hurt also by a slowing real estate market and shrinking investment.

It also cut its GDP forecasts for 2009 for four other Southeast Asian economies. Among them, its sharpest downward revision was for Malaysia to shrink 3.5 percent from growth of 1.7 percent previously, while it saw Thai GDP slipping 4 percent from a 0.8 percent drop previously.

Indonesia's economy was expected to grow at a slower pace of 2.5 percent from 3.0 percent previously, and the Philippine economy was expected to shrink 0.5 percent from a growth forecast of 1.8 percent previously, Goldman said in a note on Thursday.

"We reiterate our view that Singapore has one of the highest exposures to weakness in external demand, because of its high ratio of exports to GDP and the high portion of exports-driven domestic demand," it said.

HSBC lowered growth forecasts for Singapore to -7 percent and for Malaysia to -3.5 percent, from -5 percent and +0.5 percent previously.

Credit Suisse saw a 6.5 percent contraction for Singapore, a 5.2 percent contraction for Japan as frozen trade hits exporters, but 8 percent growth for China given its policy stimulus.

Goldman's forecast on Singapore is the most bearish among private economists, although Singapore's most powerful politician, Lee Kuan Yew, told a Reuters seminar earlier this month the economy could contract by as much as 10 percent in 2009 if exports continued to slide in the second quarter.

A poll of analysts by Reuters on Wednesday [ID:nBKK465713] put the average forecast for Singapore at a 4.9 percent contraction SGGDP1, in line with the government's official forecast and a survey of economists by the central bank.

Goldman saw the Singapore dollar at 1.64 to the U.S dollar within 3 months while HSBC expected a 2-3 percent one-off shift downwards in the band, with scope to ease policy again. (Reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan; Editing by Neil Chatterjee & Kazunori Takada)

Just landed

The Jakarta Post  |  Fri, 02/27/2009 9:30 PM 
 

 Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, front left, and his wife, second left, are greeted by Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, center, and his wife upon Yudhoyono's arrival for the 14th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit at the Hua Hin airport, Thailand, on Friday. (AP/Nicolas Asfouri)

Thailand, RI agree on Rohingya, economic ties

Erwida Maulia, THE JAKARTA POST, JAKARTA | Sat, 02/21/2009 9:34 AM 

 Abhisit in Jakarta: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (left) greets visiting Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajiva at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, on Friday. The plight of the Rohingya boatpeople and human trafficking are high on the agenda of Abhisit’s two-day visit. JP/R. Berto Wedhatama
 

Thai and Indonesian leaders agreed Friday to tackle the Rohingya refugee issue under the Bali deal, as well as advance cooperation in several fields between the two countries. 

During their bilateral talks, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also discussed how the two neighbors would cope with the global economic recession and the prospects of the ASEAN Summit, which Thailand will host next week. 

Abhisit said Thailand supported regional cooperation to deal with the plight of Myanmar’s stateless Muslim minority Rohingya, including settling the problem through the Bali Process, a multilateral initiative launched in 2002 aimed at combating people smuggling, trafficking and related transnational crimes in the Middle East, Asia and Pacific regions. 

“We need to get all the countries involved, whether they are the destination countries, the countries of origins, or countries like Thailand and Indonesia,” Abhisit told a press conference after his meeting with Yudhoyono at the Merdeka State Palace. 

“We are in favor of having the Bali Process to help deal with this situation… we’ve always been supportive of regional cooperation because we don’t see other solutions.” 

Yudhoyono echoed Abhisit’s statement, saying Indonesia would work with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UNHCR, as well as countries involved with the Bali Process to find “more permanent solutions to deal with 400 Rohingya presently stranded in our territories [Aceh]”. 

In the meantime, Yudhoyono said, Indonesia would continue an investigation into the origin of the Rohingya people, while assuring they would be provided with humanitarian assistance. 

In the economic sector, the two neighboring countries “reaffirmed [their] commitment to expand economic cooperation” in the fields of trade and investment, despite the global economic crisis. 

In 2007, bilateral trade was valued at US$7.3 billion, while in the first 10 months of 2008 that figure rose to $8.7 billion. The figure has grown by 21 percent annually in the last five years, according to Yudhoyono. 

Indonesia and Thailand have agreed to boost cooperation in food security, agriculture, fisheries and the development of alternative energy. 

Both also agreed to maintain communication, consultation and cooperation on the southern Thailand issues. 

Yudhoyono said Indonesia respected and supported the efforts of the Thai government in tackling the separatism problem, while Abhisit said Thailand was committed to a peaceful settlement. 

Last year, Vice President Jusuf Kalla facilitated an informal meeting between Thai government officials and representatives of a Muslim Thai separatist group.