Authorities bust child refugee trafficking
Authorities bust child refugee trafficking
Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang
Local security authorities have broken up a network that
allegedly trafficked dozens of East Timorese toddlers over the
last year.
The head of the Wirasakti Militry Command in East Nusa
Tenggara, Col. Muswarno Moesanip, said on Wednesday that most of
the children were taken from refugee camps in the province and
sent to orphanages in Java.
The colonel said that since August 2001, about 150 children
had been sent to separate orphanages in Central Java.
The children were sent to the orphanages by the Hati
Foundation, allegedly led by a student named Octavio Soares, who
is currently registered at a university in Yogyakarta, Moesanip
said.
"He lured the parents with promises that their children would
be sent to schools in Java, and asked them to sign letters of
agreement," he said.
However, the children were sent to orphanages and Octavio
allegedly used the letters of agreement to request financial
support for the children from donor agencies.
"He hid behind the foundation, making it difficult for us to
unravel the case," Moesanip said.
The issue of child trafficking was raised by the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugee (UNHCR) during a recent
meeting. The UN body said it had received reports that children
in the refugee camps were being held in hostage-like situations.
The violent separation of East Timor from Indonesia left about
250,000 people from the former Indonesian province as refugees,
many of whom would like to return to their hometowns.
However, some of these refugees reported that their children
had been taken to Java, and the parents refused to return to East
Timor without their children.
The Indonesian government has been looking into the matter,
and was finally able allegedly to link the missing children to
Octavio, a onetime prointegration fighter.
"We plan to return 10 children to their parents tomorrow
(Thursday) from an orphanage in Semarang, Central Java. The TNI
(Indonesian Military) will accompany the children," Moesanip
said.
He said the orphanage had requested protection from the
military because the traffickers had intercepted the children
several times and sent them back to different orphanages.
"The children were forced off the bus that was supposed to
take them back to Kupang, and the traffickers took the children
to a different orphanage," Moesanip said, quoting a report from
the orphanage.
He said the Hati Foundation sent the children to the Saint
Thomas Orphanage in Semarang and the Saint Mary Orphanage in
Yogyakarta.
Suspicions of child trafficking began in September 2001, when
the UNHCR attempted to locate the children and return them to
East Timor. However, the foundation claimed it had no knowledge
of the children.
The Indonesian government, after evaluating the case, decided
to assist the UNHCR in returning the children to their parents.
"The children missed their parents, and I have met some of the
parents who said that they had given up their children because
they were intimidated by prointegration leaders," Moesanip said.
The commander also vowed that the military would continue to
investigate the case, which allegedly involves more
prointegration leaders in the refugee camps.
"This is a serious humanitarian problem and we will work hard
to solve the case immediately," he said.