Indonesia
Archipelago
Police have prevented a group of 10 Meranti Islands residents from departing on tourist visas for migrant jobs in Malaysia and arrested their "agent" on various charges.
A member of a joint security team (center rear, crouching) talks to five people in a room at the Amira Wisma Dumai hotel in Riau on Dec. 12, 2025, as two colleagues (in doorway) look on, during an operation to prevent their departure to jobs in Cambodia via Malaysia, allegedly organized by a human trafficking syndicate. (Courtesy of BP3MI Riau/-)
The Riau Police’s water and air unit (Polairud) has prevented 10 prospective migrant workers from departing on tourist visas via Meranti Islands regency to Malaysia, where they had been promised jobs at a watermelon orchard.The unit’s director, Sr. Comr. Apri Fajar Hermanto, said the individuals’ passports were stamped with 30-day tourism visas to prevent their detection as illegal migrant workers. The plan, however, was thwarted by his officers at Tanjung Harapan Port in Selatpanjang, the island regency’s capital.
