'Refugees forced into sex slavery'

'Refugees forced into sex slavery'

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra

At least 1,000 female Acehnese refugees, who fled to neighboring
North Sumatra because of war in their homeland, have been forced
to become sex workers but the police are doing nothing about it,
activists say.

The women, allegedly being trafficked as prostitutes, are
generally aged between 16 and 26, they added.

Ikhwaluddin Simatupang, who leads the Advocacy Forum for
Acehnese Refugees, said the discovery came about after
investigating a number of complaints by parents who reported
their daughters had been forced to serve as sex workers.

They are part of some 12,000 refugees from the war-torn
province of Aceh, who have been languishing in camps across North
Sumatra.

"Many of them are trafficked to Riau, while in North Sumatra,
the sex workers from Aceh are mostly found operating in cities
like Medan, Langkat and Asahan," Ikhwaluddin told The Jakarta
Post on Saturday.

He blamed the economic factor as one reason that the Acehnese
refugees were easily trapped by commercial sex syndicates.

"How could they avert such a trap, while they don't have
anything to survive on. Up to now, the government has yet to
fulfill its promise of giving the refugees Rp 8,750,000
(US$1,029) per family in assistance," he said.

Arifany, coordinator of non-governmental organization Pusaka
Indonesia, confirmed the trafficking involving Acehnese girls.

Most of the initial information came to light during a recent
discussion on and women and children trafficking in Lankat
regency, he added.

Speaking in Medan, he said most of the Acehnese sex workers
were sent to the Riau towns of Dumai and Duri.

"Initially, they had been promised work in restaurants with
good pay. But when they arrived at their destinations, they were
trapped, locked up and forced to become sex slaves," Arifany
said.

He said the women's specific whereabouts remain unknown, but
they are believed to be locked up by the syndicate bosses.

Samirah, an Acehnese refugee and a mother, now in North
Sumatra, complained that her 24-year old daughter, Nina, was
taken by a man who promised her a job as a waitress in Duri in
May, but she has not seen her since.

The man, identified only as Bo, met Nina on May 27, 2003, to
offer her the job which he claimed had a good salary and she
accepted it, Samirah said.

"Without any money and only two changes of clothes, Nina left
for Duri along with Bo. However, to this point, I don't know
where she is, although she once sent a letter to me," she added.

In the letter dated in July, Nina told her mother that she did
not work at a restaurant as promised and that she was locked up
and barred from going out of a house by her boss.

"The letter also says that she once sent me Rp 400,000 through
Bo. But the man denied being entrusted with the money for me,"
Samirah said.

The mother said she had several times gone to the house of
Bo's father-in-law to ask about her daughter's whereabouts, but
family members there denied everything.

"I want to find Nina in Duri to bring her home, but I have no
money," Samirah said, adding that her husband, who is still in
Aceh, also does not know about the fate of his daughter.

Ikhwaluddin and Arifany urged police to take proactive
measures by investigating the trafficking case involving the
Acehnese refugees.

"We ask the police to immediately investigate these crimes and
human rights violations," Ikhwaluddin said.