Indonesia Starts Probe After Reports of 300 Nationals Locked Up in Saudi Arabia

The Indonesian government is investigating reports that 300 of its citizens, who were seeking work in Saudi Arabia, have been locked up in Riyadh, an official with the Indonesian Foreign Ministry said Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The recruitment company brought 300 Indonesians to Saudi Arabia and locked them up in a temporary shelter for migrants, according to the foreign ministry.

"We received reports two weeks ago that around 300 Indonesian citizens seeking to work in Saudi Arabia had been locked up. Our Indonesian Embassy has coordinated with police authorities there to investigate the matter," Iqbal, the ministry’s director for the protection of Indonesian nationals and entities abroad, said, as quoted by The Jakarta Post newspaper.

The Indonesian nationals might have fallen victims of an international human trafficking network, the official added.

"There are several issues that have developed concerning their condition, including information that some of them had been killed and their bodies thrown away. I cannot yet give you the details because the investigation is still in process," Iqbal said.

The Indonesian Foreign Ministry is currently in contact with the Saudi Arabian police to investigate the matter, according to the official.

According to the United Nations, victims of human trafficking can be found in 106 countries as 21 million people around the world fall victims to forced labor and extreme exploitation in which criminal enterprises yield annual profits of $150 billion.