Former forced laborers swindled

SAMARINDA, East Kalimantan: Hundreds of former romusha, the term for forced laborers under Japanese occupation, fell victim to a man claiming to be able to help them obtain war compensation.

Identified only as GT, the man had made 289 former romusha pay between Rp 30,000 (approximately US$ 13) to Rp 50,000, promising that he would obtain Rp 21 million for each of them.

It is not clear whether GT, claiming to have friends in high places, promised the elderly people to get the money from the Japanese government or from other sources.

The Antara news agency reported that in Balikpapan, another 300 former romusha and jugun ianfu (women forced to be the sex slaves of Japanese troops during the war) had also been victims of similar crimes. (swe)