Child trafficking, violence rampant in Jambi, East Java

Jon Afrizal and Indra Harsaputra, Jambi/Surabaya

The celebration of National Children's Day on Friday, may be already over, but there is work to be done, for people of all walks of life in the country, especially the government on issues that need to be addressed immediately.

The two issues the government must address are trafficking of children and violence toward children in the country, especially in Jambi and East Java provinces.

In Jambi province, it is estimated that 100 children between the ages of 12 and 15 are sold each year as sex workers to pimps in several cities nationwide and even to Malaysia and Singapore.

Asmawati Achmad, the coordinator of the Indonesian Family Planning Association's (PKBI) Jambi office, said that trafficking of children had been going on for 10 years in the province.

Each month, two to three girls leave Jambi to work as sex workers. "Jambi has become a transit point and supplier of child sex workers," said Asmawati on Saturday.

Citing several cases Asmawati said child trafficking was well- organized and involved mafia. In every deal, the trafficking mafia usually sold two or three girls, who were always accompanied by a pimp.

The traffickers would take the girls under the guise of giving them the opportunity to work abroad. The members of the groups would entice the victims with the opportunity of working abroad.

The victims would join those who recruited them on a trip to "neighboring countries" and they would be given passports and other identity cards.

"The victims usually pay their own travel expenses to the traffickers. If they don't have money, the recruiters would pay the travel expenses for them, but it is considered a loan that they have to pay back later," said Asmawati.

Passing several seaports in the province, the victims are then brought to Pekanbaru, Riau province, and later shipped to Malaysia or Singapore or they ended up in Batam, Riau province or Medan, the capital of North Sumatra.

Asmawati demanded the government put an end to the trafficking of children, as it has brought misery to the children and their parents.

Separately in Surabaya, a local non-governmental organization Samitra Abhaya released a statement that the number of rape cases in East Java province rose last year to 417, or a 55 percent increase compared to 2002. Some 55 percent of the 417 victims last year were minors, according to Samitra's report made available to the media on Friday.

Deputy State Minister for Women Empowerment Irma Alamsyah said that the government was deliberating a bill on the eradication of women and child trafficking. The bill, when it comes into law, is expected to be able to help law enforcers to eradicate the rampant child and women trafficking.

She also said in Surabaya that the government would pay more attention to the rising number of cases of violence against children in the country.