'Happy Ramadhan, now get out of town'<\/p>\n
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Kartini, a vegetable vendor, was standing on sidewalk after
\nshopping for vegetables at the Cengkareng traditional market in
\nWest Jakarta, when several Public Order Officers came and forced
\nher into their truck.<\/p>\n
She was arrested because she failed to produce her ID card,
\nwhich she said was stolen along with her wallet, on the first day
\nof Ramadhan, Nov. 6.<\/p>\n
Kartini, 30, showed the officers a letter from the police
\nexplaining that she had lost the ID card. Yet, the Public Order
\nOfficers refused to let her go, believing that she was a
\nprostitute.<\/p>\n
The woman, a single mother of one, was just one of 452 people
\nsent to the city administration's social rehabilitation center in
\nKedoya, West Jakarta, as a result of the raids conducted by the
\nofficers since the beginning of Ramadhan.<\/p>\n
On Thursday afternoon Nov. 14, Aris, a resident of Pasar
\nMinggu, South Jakarta sat forlornly outside the institution's
\nvisiting room. He was trying in vain to get his relative,
\nKartini, released, after she was locked up in the center late on
\nWednesday evening.<\/p>\n
To make things more complicated, he said, the center failed to
\ninform any of Kartini's relatives. Aris was only able to find out
\nabout her abduction at around noon on Thursday from the center's
\ncleaning lady, who was paid by Kartini to call Aris.<\/p>\n
He rushed to Kedoya only to be told that he had to obtain
\nletters from Kartini's neighborhood administration, the
\nsubdistrict and the regency administration regarding her
\nresidential status before the Social Affairs Agency could approve
\nher release.<\/p>\n
"She did nothing wrong, but the officers brought her here
\nanyway. And now, I cannot take her home until the day after
\ntomorrow (Saturday)," he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
The Public Order Officers have intensified the raids against
\nbeggars, vagrants, prostitutes and other people labeled by the
\ncity government as those with community and social problems
\n(PMKS).<\/p>\n
While any positive aspects of the raids remain to be seen,
\nthere reportedly have been many people wrongfully arrested.<\/p>\n
The head of the Kedoya center's character and moral
\ndevelopment department, Aseli Husin, admitted frequent mistakes
\nhad been committed by the officers because they often just combed
\nthe city's streets or areas near known red-light districts.<\/p>\n
He said that only 31 of the 64 women categorized as sex
\nworkers held since Nov. 6 had been positively identified as
\nprostitutes. Those 31 were sent to a special institution, the
\nBina Karya Wanita Harapan Mulia in Cipayung, North Jakarta,
\nearlier on Thursday. The rest, including Kartini, were still in
\nKedoya, pending clarification of their identity.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, the center, which has a capacity to house around
\n300 people, sent home 110 people, mostly beggars, to their homes
\nin West Java and Central Java.<\/p>\n
Another 80 people, including the 31 sex workers, were sent to
\nundergo rehabilitation at various institutions all over Jakarta
\nafter receiving guidance and short-courses such as silk-screening
\nand doormat-production.<\/p>\n
The acting head of the center, Djoko Haryanto, denied the
\nstatements from several beggars who claimed that they were
\nreleased from Kedoya after paying a bribe.<\/p>\n
He explained that the center deliberately imposed difficult
\nprocedures to release the people in a bid to teach a lesson to
\nthem and to make their families or those responsible for them to
\ntake care of them and to pay more attention to them.<\/p>\n
"But don't get me wrong. People used to say that we'd take
\nmoney. The fact is, though, people have to spend a lot of money
\nto obtain all the required documents as well as to pay
\ntransportation fees before we release their relatives," he
\nquickly added.<\/p>\n
Djoko also said that many people came to claim themselves as
\nthe fathers or brothers of the commercial sex workers. "Many of
\nthem are actually lawyers or police officers," he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/happy-ramadhan-now-get-out-of-town-1447893297",
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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