International Catholic Migra­tion Commission (ICMC) Indo­nesian national programme manager Fatimana Agustinanto said interviews carried out with the migrants—going in and out of the state—admitted to being bonded labourers.

“Sabah is a major destination for Indonesians and agents over there recruit them and get them to employment agencies in the state who offer work in various sectors, from plantation to domestic help.

“They tell us they do not get any salary until their ‘debt’ is repaid,” he said at a media briefing jointly held with its Sabah counterpart Archdiocese Human Development Committee here yesterday.

Fatimana said the study was carried out at the Indonesian border post of Nunukan in Kali­mantan between November 2008 and December last year where most workers were recruited through false promises and no proper explanation was given as to how they would repay the “debt” they incurred in procuring their jobs.

Fatimana and AHDC Sabah programme director Dominic Lim gave a briefing on the second phase of Cross Border Counter Trafficking Project between Malaysia and Indonesia for 2010-2011, sponsored by the US government.

Lim said that with the Anti-Trafficking Act 2007 that came into effect in 2008, authorities could now tackle human trafficking issues as they were working closely with the police, labour and other agencies.

“We will carry out a campaign against human trafficking through radio talk shows and media event Juara and highlight issues with youths in Kota Marudu, Tamparuli and Keningau,” he said, adding that these were the areas where youths were usually targeted by unscrupulous agents for the labour markets in Malaysia and Singapore.

AHDC also holds capacity building workshops for NGOs offering services to survivors of trafficking, develop guidelines to combat debt bondage and trafficking of women and girls to Sabah.