TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsChild beggars in post-disaster Aceh raises concern over long-term mental harm
Displaced children are turning to begging on the streets amid limited aid, often with their parents' permission, potentially leading to their long-term mental and developmental harm.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
A teacher (center right, top) leads students in a classroom lesson on Jan. 5, 2026, at a reopened school in Kejuruan Muda district, Aceh Tamiang regency, Aceh, one of three provinces in northern Sumatra that were struck by flooding and landslides in late November.
(Antara/Aceh Tamiang Education and Culture Agency)
M
ore than a month after a hydrometeorological disaster swept across northern Sumatra in late November, children can be seen begging on the roadside in Aceh, carrying empty cardboard boxes and seeking a helping hand from passersby due to limited humanitarian aid.
One of the children, Bustaman, 12, said he was forced to beg to fulfill his daily needs.
He, two siblings and his mother were evacuated to Tanjung Rambut hamlet after a flash flood destroyed their family’s home in Kota Lintang Bawah village, both in Kuala Simpang district, Aceh Tamiang regency. His father was killed in the disaster.
“I once did not eat for three days. That was the start of me begging on the roadside,” Bustaman told The Jakarta Post on Jan. 8, explaining that he had first asked his mother for permission to do so.
According to him, begging a single day can produce relatively decent results.
“Some people give money while some give food. There are also people who give clothing,” said Bustaman, emphasizing that his family’s needs would not be met if they relied solely on supplies distributed via an evacuation post.
Read also: 22 villages in Aceh vanish after Cyclone Senyar, dozens remain isolated
