Perceived as criminals, teens get jailed

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

"Mr. Reporter, please send me to school..,." Yohannes, 16, said when The Jakarta Post visited the city social rehabilitation center in Kedoya, West Jakarta on Friday.

Yohannes, a street singer whose parents live in Cakung, East Jakarta, was arrested by the public order officers on Wednesday at Cawang intersection, East Jakarta.

He was then sent to the rehabilitation center, where he shared a cell with other 20 people, even though the maximum capacity was 15.

The cell, measuring about 18 square-meters, was awfully dirty as garbage, cigarette butts, and hanging laundry loaded the "cage". Moreover, they had to endure the bad smell from the toilet, which is located in the cell, and at night, it was cold as there was no shutter at the iron-barred door and window.

Yohannes said he had to sing on the street soon after he graduated from elementary school, as he could not afford to attend school nor to find an appropriate job.

"This is my first time jailed in this center, I wish they could send me to school or at least find me a job afterwards, any job will do... I could wipe the floor or wash the laundry for them (the guard at the center)", he said.

On another block, Dewi, a 20-year-old sex worker, was seen citing words of prayer.

She said afterward, that she had been housed at the center for a week, and currently was waiting for her pimp to take her out.

Dewi was caught by public order officers when she was waiting for a customer at a bus stop in Cawang, East Jakarta.

Unlike Yohannes, Dewi's cell was clean. And there was much space for her as she only shared it with two other people who had the same profession as her.

"I like the meals here and I have time to read and introspect. But the bar has confiscated my freedom. Please tell them to let me out," she said.

Aisyah, 45, has another story.

The woman who was originally from Subang, West Java, has worked as a lived-in helper in Pluit Apartment in North Jakarta. She was arrested when she was alone in the apartment as the employer was out to work.

"They forced me to leave the place and took me on the truck for not having a Jakarta ID. I've been here for two days waiting for my employer to pick me up, otherwise I would be sent home to Subang", she said.

In 2001, the rehab center in Kedoya housed 10,652 people. About half of them were sent home, 2,426 were taken by their relatives or employers, while the rest were sent to another specified rehab center.

Most of the people were beggars (882), homeless people (618), and sex workers (601).