REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BATAM -- Malaysia has deported as many as 13 female victims of alleged human trafficking to Indonesia through the Batam International Seaport in Riau Islands province, an official said.

"They have been secured by the Indonesian Embassy in Malaysia. The Indonesian consulate in Johor also accommodated them before their repatriation," Febriana, an official from the Social Affairs Ministry who accompanied the victims, stated here on Wednesday.

The 13 female victims were initially meant to be hired as commercial sex workers in entertainment places in Malaysia, the official added.

According to Febriana, the young women will be accommodated in the shelter home of the city's social affairs office for the time being, before they head to their own villages.

"The alleged human trafficking female victims hold Batam immigration passports. They were traded to Malaysia by a tekong (an illegal operator who sends migrant workers)," she pointed out, adding that the women were traumatized over what had happened to them in Malaysia.

Febriana further noted that the victims will be sent home to their villages by a Kelud vessel after their health improves.

On Friday (December 5), Malaysia deported four toddlers and eight problematic adult migrant workers through Batam.

The eight migrant workers, who hailed from Batam, Medan in North Sumatra, Central Java, West Java, East Java, and East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), entered Malaysia without complete documents.

They suffered harsh treatment while in Malaysia and were not paid at their work places. So they escaped, Febriana revealed.

According to the National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI), some 5,000 of them are serving a jail sentence at present.

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