Refugee children, child abuse prevail in RI

Refugee children, child abuse prevail in RI

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Despite the Child Protection Law, the problems of displaced
children and child abuse have not been resolved by the
government, which sparked criticism from the Committee on the
Rights of Children (CRC).

According to data at the National Disaster Management and
Refugees Coordination Board (Bakornas PBP), 40 percent of
internally displaced persons were children and until March 2001,
1,081,000 refugees were spread across 20 provinces. The figure is
expected to have risen following the increase in refugees from
war-torn Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.

As of July 2003, the Ministry of Social Affairs recorded more
than 30,800 refugees in Aceh, 30 percent of whom were children.

The child refugees are facing emotional, psychological and
educational problems from the prolonged conflict. Some children
have continued school in makeshift tents, mosques or other
temporary buildings, while others have had their education cut
short because of the lack of schools, teachers and other factors.

The government has also yet to completely address the great
number of East Timorese children separated from their parents
following East Timor's secession from Indonesia in 1999.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees, East Timorese children separated from their parents or
families numbered 4,527 by July 2003. Of these, 2,284 have been
repatriated and reunited with their families, while 1,500 are
still in Indonesia.

Some of the East Timorese children in West Timor, South
Sulawesi, West Nusa Tenggara and Central Java have been returned
to their families. Others, however, have reportedly rejected
going back to East Timor and have decided to stay with their
Indonesian foster parents to continue their studies.

Many refugee children are unable to go to school, as their
parents have no source of income at the refugee camps.

Besides the issue of displaced children, child abuse is rife
and the government has yet to take any necessary measures to
reduce the number of cases across the country.

Media reports in 2003 provide a figure of 2,184 child abuse
cases, in which most victims were female. Most cases have been
settled at court, but no measures have been taken to prevent
future cases.

The CRC regretted that Indonesia did not heed its 1994
recommendations for addressing the two children's issues, and
presented an evaluation during a January meeting with Indonesia's
delegation in Geneva. During the meeting, the CRC urged the
government to end violence and conflicts affecting children,
while stressing that children could not be recruited and trained
for combat.

The committee also called on the government to provide equal
educational opportunity to children, regardless their status or
background.

Mohamad Farid of the Child Rights Convention Watch Coalition
said around 90 percent of rape or sexual abuse victims covered on
TV were children.

"There are children working as prostitutes, and the worst
thing is that they are supposed to be the victims. People who use
them as sexual objects should be prosecuted instead of the child
prostitutes," said Farid.

The CRC also expressed concern over the existing law, that it
did not provide effective protection for children against sex
abuse. The law sets 12 years as the minimum age limit for
consensual sex, which is too young.

The Indonesian government, said the CRC, must draw up a
legislation that protects child victims of sexual exploitation,
trafficking, pornography and prostitution, while also raising the
age limit for consensual sex.