The Capacity of Indonesia as a Source Country in Enabling Trafficking in Person

This paper examines the analytical discussion that Indonesia, as an origin or source country, has an enabling role in trafficking in person (TIP). It argues that the failure of the government’s institutional and social dimensions in the source countries is the main reason which facilitates the widespread acts of TIP in Indonesia. This article consolidates insights from the extensive literature on the combination of the sociology, criminology, politics, economy and cultural aspects of TIP to find the key drivers of TIP in the source country. In this regard, it asserts that the institutional factors, failure of effective bureaucracy, the lack of fiscal capacity, and weak border-security management can create a permissive situation for TIP and maintain the prevalence of trafficking flows. While the social aspects, with the government’s ineffective social assistance policy, can pertain acts of TIP as it is unable to address the root causes of economic viability at the individual levels.