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Child trafficking on the rise in West Nusa Tenggara
In the past three years child trafficking has increased in West Nusa Tenggara, according to the provincial chapter of LBH APIK
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In the past three years child trafficking has increased in West Nusa Tenggara, according to the provincial chapter of LBH APIK.
"The foundation handled 458 cases in the past three years with 118 cases in 2007," said Beauty Erawati, chapter director of the Women's Legal Aid Foundation (LBH APIK), on Monday.
"Most of the cases happen on Sumba Island where falsifying a child's age is a common practice, especially during the recruitment process for migrant workers."
Beauty was speaking from the sidelines of a working visit made by members of the House of Representatives' Commission VIII overseeing social, religious, women's empowerment and child protection affairs.
She said it was a common tactic used by illegal recruiters, known as tekong, to lure female junior high school graduates to work as migrant workers overseas, promising them high salaries.
A tekong usually falsifies applicants' ages on their documents, for example saying teenagers are in the 20s.
"The practice usually involves village officials. We have so far handled 12 child trafficking cases this year," Beauty said.
"We were able to return two of them to their parents but there is still no news on the other 10."
She added child trafficking in West Nusa Tenggara was generally due to economic hardship, evident from the number of cases in which parents had given their consent so their daughters could supplement the family's income.
"Once during counseling, parents asked if we were ready to support them if their children failed to become migrant workers," she said.
Meanwhile, the visiting lawmakers and officials on children's rights called on provincial administrations to be more active in reducing child trafficking.
"The main issue is our lack of awareness. We have enacted many laws such as the domestic violence law, the child protection law and the human trafficking law," lawmaker Mesir Suryadi said.
"However, not many of us, including law enforcers, know these facts. The role of the provincial administration is essential."
The House Commission has chosen West Nusa Tenggara to conduct its working visit because it is the second largest exporter of migrant workers; East Java exports the most.
West Nusa Tenggara sends about 46,000 migrant workers to Malaysia and the Middle East annually.
The National Commission for Child Protection (KPAI) chairwoman, Masnah Sari, said the number of child trafficking cases in Indonesia in general was alarming, adding provincial administrations must play a key role in minimizing it.
"We will hold a regional meeting in Batam, Riau Islands, on Aug. 20. We will invite at least 30 regents and mayors to discuss the issue," she said.
KPAI is tasked with overseeing the effectiveness of child protection by carrying out public awareness campaigns, data gathering and providing information to the President. It is not authorized to be involved in legal matters related to child trafficking cases.
"Therefore a regulation is required so KPAI can work together with local NGOs in advocacy work," Masnah said.
KPAI representative Sander Zulkarnaen told The Jakarta Post the commission recorded more than 2,000 child trafficking cases in Indonesia in 2007, a majority of which occurred in Batam which has as many as 400 cases, followed by Indramayu, Sukoharjo and Jakarta.
"That's just data derived from 23 provinces," he said.
Children between the ages of 15 and 18 are usually sent to Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore to be employed as sex workers.
