Survivors of Indonesian Crew Member Enslavement

This photography essay is the result of my interpretation when encountering several survivors who had fallen to a scheme of enslaving the crew members and selling them to foreign vessels. According to a report by the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union (SBMI), there were 338 complaints by Indonesian crew members about forced maritime labor on foreign fishing vessels between September 2014 and July 2020. In 2020, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported receiving 1451 complaints of rights violations from foreign crew members. Compared to 2019, this number climbed from 1,095 reports.Based on that report, I was visiting some survivors on the north coast of Central Java, Indonesia, near the Tegal-Pemalang boundary. This area is the largest supplier of crew members as well as the area with the most complaints of forced labor at high seas. They described their traumatic experiences as victims of crafty Indonesian labor supply agencies, whose fate was tossed around by a foreign fishing vessels and labor supply firms. However, many young people, especially those from low-income households, still take a risk on being a crew member despite this incident. The temptation of increased income provided by the agencies in foreign currencies is the main motivation for escaping the poverty trap. Additionally, many employment agencies provide various shortcuts to help with the administration of paperwork like passports, visas, and seafarers to fundamental training and housing that is paid for in advance by them. The offer was then made in the form of a loan that must be returned over the course of the first six to eight months of employment through wage deductions. The deductions, however, are so significant that some even do not leave the monthly salary amount.On the high seas, the crew members work on foreign vessels that are not covered by legal supervision. As forced laborers, they have been trapped in isolation on the high seas without adequate facilities or safety assurances. Hunger, conflicts among foreign crew members, and other unfavorable working conditions frequently result in fatalities.Even if they are fortunate enough to return home, they are left penniless because their access to the payments from the labor supply agencies schemes has been cut off. They have not benefited from the current judicial proceedings. Even if the unscrupulous labor suppliers are put behind bars, the crews’ rights will not be respected. Sadly, these stories are still told today.