Nias residents warn of child trafficking

Nias residents warn of child trafficking

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Several prominent figures from Nias alleged on Monday that dozens
of children had been taken off the island illegally since the
tsunami in December.

Director of Jakarta-based Nias Potential and Empowerment
Council (LP2N) Ebenezer Hia said that in addition to the 10
children now under the social affairs ministry's custody, some 30
others had been taken to the capital in the past few months
without going through proper procedures.

He said he had received many requests from Nias parents asking
the council to trace their children's whereabouts after being
taken to Jakarta by different foundations.

"The foundations left no addresses or contact numbers. They
just took the children away without any letter of approval from
their parents or documents from local authorities as we've found
no records in the local administration office," Ebenezer said.

Ebenezer, together with several other Nias figures, arrived at
the city police headquarters on Monday to demand that the 10
children under the social welfare ministry's care in Jakarta be
returned to Nias as soon as possible.

The 10 were taken to Jakarta by four people identified as
Hendra, Hikua, Yohana and Halana, workers with the Youth
Foundation (YWAM) in Cipayung, East Jakarta and the Nation's Hope
Foundation (YHB) in Parung, Bogor, West Java.

The four, however, failed to produce letters of consent from
parents and approvals from local administrations as required by
law in order to take children from their parents.

The four were subsequently arrested for questioning before
they were released 24 hours later. After that police arrested the
head of YHB in Parung, where the children were supposedly taken
to.

The 10 children are Adil Putra Jaya Lombu, 3, Fiberman Lombu,
7, Pontianu Lombu, 4, Beziduhu Lombu, 6, Jois Dorkas Orienti
Lombu, 4, Yuferius Lombu, 8, Miralina Lombu, 7, Yujuniman Lombu,
7, Jhoni Alexander Hululu, 5, and Dirman Pati Yulianu Ulu, 7.

Another prominent Nias figure S. Laoli, chairman of the Nias
Society Association (Himni), claimed that hundreds of Nias
children had been taken to many areas in Indonesia since the
massive flood in 2001, and the trafficking worsened after the
tsunami.

"We just have to do a survey to find out how many children
have actually been taken from our island. Several mothers said to
me that they had lost their children after a foundation took them
away," he explained.

Chief of the women and children unit at the city police Comr.
Sri Suwari said that the police would soon return all the
children, who are now in a state-run orphanage in Bambu Apus,
East Jakarta, to their parents in Nias.

"Hopefully, we can return the children to their parents on
Wednesday. We have questioned all witnesses, including two men
identified as Edo and Benny in Nias. For now, we haven't found a
criminal offense in the case," she said.