Jakarta. Education Minister Nadiem Makarim confirmed on Wednesday that the internship in Germany, which left many Indonesian students subjected to forced labor, was not initiated by the government.

Police have launched a people smuggling investigation and named five suspects after more than 1,000 Indonesian students were sent to Germany as low-paid labor under the pretext of an internship during vacation.

Preliminary investigations revealed that many of the students were employed as porters or in other low-paid manual labor positions unrelated to their academic backgrounds.

Nadiem, who introduced the freedom of learning policy upon assuming office in 2019, clarified that the controversial internship is not part of that policy.

During a hearing with the education commission of the House of Representatives, Nadiem also promised to launch an internal investigation into the matter.

"We are following up with efforts to restore the credibility and quality of the internship program for our students," Nadiem said.

His ministry is considering disciplinary sanctions against 33 universities that sent students to the forced labor scheme.

Police investigations indicated that the five suspects arranged the recruitment and approached universities to participate.

One of the suspects is Sihol Situngkir, a professor at the University of Jambi, who was interrogated by police earlier on Wednesday. He argued that the internship was the implementation of the freedom of learning policy.

The suspects also persuaded students to take part in the internship by claiming that the program would be included in their grade point average (GPA).

Brig. Gen. Djuhandhani Rahardjo Puro, the director of the National Police’s general crime division, said the internship is a new modus operandi in people smuggling that he has never dealt with before.

“The suspects disguised the crime as an official program to send workers illegally,” he said.