March 25, 2010
Nurfika Osman
Fourteen young female trafficking victims who were rescued by a police task force in Riau gathering in Bandung on Wednesday. The victims, who reportedly were forced into prostitution, were from West Java. The youngest of the girls was just 14 years old. (Antara Photo/Agus Bebeng)
Human Trafficking a ‘Low Priority’ for Indonesian Officials
A lack of concern by local administrations is the primary reason for rampant human trafficking in the country, especially of children, activists say.
“Local governments do not take human trafficking as a priority, while it has become increasingly rampant and the areas of trafficking are expanding in the country,” Hadi Supeno, head of the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI), told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday.
Hadi said the measure showing this insufficient concern was the fact that there was no special budget allotted by these local governments to combat human trafficking.
“I have found that in many cases, a local government does not want to return victims of trafficking to the places they came from just because it does not have the budget for such a case,” he said.
“They also do not have special centers to treat the victims’ mental wounds, one of the most important things that need to be addressed.”
He said human trafficking operations were once primarily in West Java, East Java and East Nusa Tenggara, while the destinations were Batam, East Kalimantan, West Kalimantan and Jakarta.
“But now, the sources can also become destinations as well, and there are new places that have become destinations of trafficking,” he said.
North Sulawesi and Papua, he said, had become sources of children for trafficking as well as destinations.
Recently, a 14-year-old girl was found to have been abducted by traffickers in Central Java and taken to Aceh, where she was forced to work as a housemaid. Aceh, he said, had not previously been a trafficking destination.
He said these changing dynamics made it impossible to predict whether a region would become a source or a destination for human trafficking.
“We cannot map that anymore, and our children are more at risk of exploitation, especially those who are living in poverty.”
Sri Wiyanti Eddyono, a former member of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), told the Globe on Thursday that poverty was at the root of human trafficking.
“Poverty and the patriarchal system have forced our society into sacrificing women, and they have become a commodity,” Sri Wiyanti said.
She said she had uncovered many cases where young girls were sold into prostitution or forced to become domestic workers by traffickers. “Even parents are among the agents in human trafficking cases,” she said.
Despite the 2007 Law on Human Trafficking, enforcement remains weak, she said.
“Lack of law enforcement is also one of the causes that make the spread of human trafficking out of control,” Hadi said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry for Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection has reaffirmed its commitment to fight trafficking.
“We are aware that human trafficking is a serious situation and we take this in a sense of urgency,” ministry spokesman Rudy Purboyo told the Globe on Thursday.
“We are now the head of the working committee in combating human trafficking in the country, which shows that we use our staff to handle cases in field,” Rudy said.
The International Labor Organization estimates that between 40,000 and 70,000 children in the country are victims of sexual exploitation, and that 100,000 children are trafficked every year.
According to the ILO, about 30 percent of female prostitutes in the country are below 18 years of age, with some as young as 10 years old.
“Local governments do not take human trafficking as a priority, while it has become increasingly rampant and the areas of trafficking are expanding in the country,” Hadi Supeno, head of the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI), told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday.
Hadi said the measure showing this insufficient concern was the fact that there was no special budget allotted by these local governments to combat human trafficking.
“I have found that in many cases, a local government does not want to return victims of trafficking to the places they came from just because it does not have the budget for such a case,” he said.
“They also do not have special centers to treat the victims’ mental wounds, one of the most important things that need to be addressed.”
He said human trafficking operations were once primarily in West Java, East Java and East Nusa Tenggara, while the destinations were Batam, East Kalimantan, West Kalimantan and Jakarta.
“But now, the sources can also become destinations as well, and there are new places that have become destinations of trafficking,” he said.
North Sulawesi and Papua, he said, had become sources of children for trafficking as well as destinations.
Recently, a 14-year-old girl was found to have been abducted by traffickers in Central Java and taken to Aceh, where she was forced to work as a housemaid. Aceh, he said, had not previously been a trafficking destination.
He said these changing dynamics made it impossible to predict whether a region would become a source or a destination for human trafficking.
“We cannot map that anymore, and our children are more at risk of exploitation, especially those who are living in poverty.”
Sri Wiyanti Eddyono, a former member of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), told the Globe on Thursday that poverty was at the root of human trafficking.
“Poverty and the patriarchal system have forced our society into sacrificing women, and they have become a commodity,” Sri Wiyanti said.
She said she had uncovered many cases where young girls were sold into prostitution or forced to become domestic workers by traffickers. “Even parents are among the agents in human trafficking cases,” she said.
Despite the 2007 Law on Human Trafficking, enforcement remains weak, she said.
“Lack of law enforcement is also one of the causes that make the spread of human trafficking out of control,” Hadi said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry for Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection has reaffirmed its commitment to fight trafficking.
“We are aware that human trafficking is a serious situation and we take this in a sense of urgency,” ministry spokesman Rudy Purboyo told the Globe on Thursday.
“We are now the head of the working committee in combating human trafficking in the country, which shows that we use our staff to handle cases in field,” Rudy said.
The International Labor Organization estimates that between 40,000 and 70,000 children in the country are victims of sexual exploitation, and that 100,000 children are trafficked every year.
According to the ILO, about 30 percent of female prostitutes in the country are below 18 years of age, with some as young as 10 years old.
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