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Over 16,000 Indonesian children live on streets
West Java is the province with the largest number of street children in the country as it is home to 2,953 street children. It is followed by Jakarta with 2,570, East Java with 2,701 and Central Java with 1,477. There are 556 and 503 street children in Banten and Yogyakarta, respectively.
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Women Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Yohama Yambise (right) meet with four suspects of child exploitation and trafficking case in South Jakarta Police Headquarters on Sunday. The four suspects allegedly involved in a syndicate that trafficked and forced children to be beggars and buskers in the streets of Jakarta. (Kompas.com/Kahfi Dirga Cahya)
The Social Affairs Ministry has said about 16,920 children are living on the streets.
While the number is still alarming, the ministry’s general director of social rehabilitation, Edy Suharto, said it had dropped from previous years.
“This is a decrease from 232,894 children in 2006,” he said during a children’s jamboree on Wednesday.
The ministry said they were spread across 21 provinces.
West Java is the province with the largest number of street children in the country as it is home to 2,953 street children. It is followed by Jakarta with 2,570, East Java with 2,701 and Central Java with 1,477. There are 556 and 503 street children in Banten and Yogyakarta, respectively.
Outside of Java, North Sumatra is the province with the most street children with 1,000, followed by West Sumatra and South Sulawesi with 822 and 652 children, respectively.
