Chinese-Indonesian women seek Canadian husbands

Chinese-Indonesian women seek Canadian husbands

By Greg Heakes

VANCOUVER (AFP): A number of Indonesian-Chinese women are offering themselves to Canadian men as mail-order brides in an attempt to escape mob violence in their homeland.

The women, many of them professionals who lost their savings in Indonesia's economic crisis, want to marry overseas and Canadian and American men are at the top of their list, according to Iwan Suwandi, chairman of the Vancouver Forum Against Human Rights Violations in Indonesia.

"Families want to save their daughters from rape and one of the ways to do that is to put them in mail-order magazines," Suwandi said. "It's a sign of desperation."

Theckla Lit Kwok-yeun, an activist here for ethnic Chinese from Indonesia, said the mail-order brides fear gang violence in Indonesia that reached a peak in May.

"Some of the women are contacting people they know in Canada and asking relatives to put ads in the newspaper for them," Lit said.

Julang Tujianto, spokesman for the Indonesian consulate in Vancouver, said officials there have no way of knowing if there has been an increase in Indonesians emigrating to Vancouver unless they come in and register with the consulate.

"Whether it (mail-order brides) is becoming a trend, I don't know," Tujianto said.

Activists and human rights groups estimate the number of people killed in the riots in Indonesia at 1,000. The groups say at least 20 of those were women who were raped and then killed or died from their injuries.

The rights groups claim that over 150 women were gang raped or sexually abused in Jakarta alone.

Rumors say the rapes have continued in recent months, with attackers paying taxi drivers US$15 to help trap unsuspecting female passengers.

"These ladies are still in a very stressful situation," Lit said, adding the taxi ruse has been reported to the Indonesian Women's Association.

The reports of assaults on ethnic Chinese women in Indonesia outraged Chinese around the world, sparking demonstrations at Indonesian government offices overseas including this west coast city, home to one of the biggest ethnic Chinese communities in Canada.

Lit helped organize a candlelight vigil for the rape victims in Vancouver earlier this month which was attended by more than 500 people.

Many of them signed a petition -- now totaling over 10,000 names -- which calls on the Canadian government to press Indonesia to improve human rights.

"People are still scared. They are arming themselves," said Lit. "Those who can get out are the rich. Most people can't afford it."

Meanwhile, Canada is assembling a team of government and human rights experts to investigate the reports of mass rapes and sexual assaults of ethnic Chinese women, a report said.

The Vancouver-based Southeast Asia Post reported Friday that Canada's Asia-Pacific Secretary, Raymond Chan, will spearhead the Canadian delegation, which will include forensic experts, sex assault counselors and investigators.

It is expected to begin work in October.

"Our objective is to help the authorities bring the culprits to courts in Indonesia," Chan told the paper.

Canada's Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy recently met with his Indonesian counterpart Ali Alatas to discuss the turmoil.