Protect Asian Tsunami Orphans from Trafficking

With thousands of children left orphaned by the southern Asia tsunami, authorities and international agencies are concerned for children’s safety in the region where trafficking networks are entrenched and where markets for forced labour and sexual slavery thrive.

The UK-based charity Save the Children acknowledged that effort in child protection is acute. Especially in the worst hit area, the Aceh Province of Indonesia, there have been substantiated reports of abductions and smuggling of children. While the Indonesian government has now issued a ban on transporting any children out of the country without a parent, Save the Children's child protection programme will help to identify risks and offer solutions for protection. It has been working with street children and trafficked minors.

The followings are the four main works the Save the Children are carrying out in Indonesia:

• Save the Children is moving quickly to identify unaccompanied children and send trained child protection officers to sites such as camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) to help protect vulnerable children from being trafficked or exploited. In collaboration with a network of local community partners in Aceh, it identifies and protects separated children and orphans as they arrive in camps. Children arriving from Aceh will be registered at a crisis centre in Jakarta built by Save the Children and the Indonesian government.
  
  
• Save the Children’s protection team of 15 staff visited six camps in the Aceh region on Wednesday, and an additional six on Thursday. The team is assessing the possibility of using local child-focused organisations to assist in the follow-up of tracing activities.
  
  
• Save the Children staff is leading the training of UNCIEF Crisis Centre personnel, the first 40 of whom are in Aceh. Activities have begun in two camps for registering and tracing separated children.
  
  
• Four professionals in child protection issues have arrived in Aceh. Their efforts will focus on working with broader numbers of survivors, including IDPs, and establishing an office/shelter for children and adults who might need closer supervision.

In Sri Lanka and India, Save the Children and colleague members of the International Save the Children Alliance have launched assessments. Together with UNICEF social workers, they have begun visiting camps of homeless families and registering unaccompanied children.

To help children and families affected by earthquake and tsunami in Southern Asia, please visit Save the Children website for donation.