September 20, 2016 edition

Yuli Ismartono*
President Joko Widodo's recent ratification of the ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in Persons (ACTIP) at the annual regional summit, which recently took place in the Laotian capital city of Vientiane, is a positive and timely step in the fight against a despicable scourge in Indonesia.
In the last two weeks, the local media have been reporting the arrest of people-selling syndicates operating in Java, Kalimantan and areas of East Nusa Tenggara. The number of victims emerging as a consequence has been nothing short of shocking. One man alone was found to have bought and sold close to 100 minors in the past year, for a mere Rp1.2 million each. The victims would have ended up as forced labor or sold into prostitution rings, both inside the country and outside, in particular to Singapore and Malaysia.

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