City to raid street children

The city administration will conduct an operation on more than 4,000 street children Thursday in a bid to rescue them from possible sexual abuse and human trafficking.

The head of the social agency from the city chapter, Budihardjo, said Wednesday that the planned operation would involve officers from the social and health agencies and policemen.

“We will conduct the operation throughout the capital. Those who are netted will undergo a series of examination,” Budihardjo told tempointeraktif.com.

He added that they would check street children’s health to determine whether they had been sexually abused.

“If we find a sexual abuse case, we will chase the perpetrator,” he said, adding that the perpetrator might be close to the victim.

He added that his office was expecting that there would be no more street children by 2011.

“We will hold the operation each week, targeting 4,023 street children across Jakarta,” he said. (ewd)