Nias Online

Jakarta – A strong earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale struck Indonesia's Nias Island off the western coast of Sumatra early Wednesday, but there were no reports of structural damage or injuries, an official said. Full text …

Monday, December 19, 2005 Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

A non-governmental organization (NGO) has reported that child trafficking and illegal adoptions were continuing in the tsunami-ravaged areas of Aceh and Nias.

Several children of the tsunami were found to have been sold to irresponsible parties in Malaysia, while very young victims of the earthquake in Nias had been illegally adopted by people in Medan, Jakarta and Bandung, said an official with the Center for Child Protection and Study (PKPA).

The executive director with PKPA, Achmad Sofian, said on Saturday that child trafficking and illegal adoptions were revealed by a study conducted by his NGO recently.

Sofian explained that they had found two cases of Acehnese children sold to irresponsible people in Malaysia. The first case concerned a girl child identified only as I.R., a Lhokseumawe resident, who was locked up in Binjai, North Sumatra about two months ago. The case became public after the child was able to escape when members of the trafficking syndicate left the house to arrange for her passport. The second case was of 16-year-old identified as S., an Aceh Besar resident. The girl was able to escape when the syndicated members were trying to get her out of Aceh by bus.

At first, the victim did not suspect the syndicate members because she apparently knew them before and they told her that she would be employed as a domestic helper. But, later she learned that the syndicate planned to sell her to their colleagues in Malaysia. She managed to escape when the bus stopped in Langsa, East Aceh.

Sofian said the first victim had been returned to her family in Lhokseumawe while the second had been made adopted by a government official in Langsa.

Based on the findings, members of the NGO went to Malaysia in order to investigate child trafficking and they found that in several places in the neighboring country, Acehnese teens who had survived the tsunami were found working in restaurants.

The youngsters actually are not supposed to be working in restaurants as they are below 21, the minimum age requirement in Malaysia, said Sofian.

"After further investigation, we found that many of their birth certificates had been forged to make them eligible. In the passports, their ages were changed so that they could enter Malaysia for work," said Sofian.

The NGO was studying whether the teens were also employed as prostitutes in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Sofian also said that besides child trafficking, the NGO had also found that children in Nias had been adopted illegally. Sofian said according to data gathered by the NGO between March and November this year, 72 children from Nias between the ages of four and 12, had been illegally adopted.

Sofian explained that the cases of illegal adoption began when people claiming to be from an orphanage in Medan offered Nias parents the "opportunity" to have their children adopted by rich families in Medan. They also promised that the children would go to good schools be treated well. But, later on, the parents found out that it was all a scam and to this day have not seen their children. The children had gone missing along with the people claiming to represent the orphanage.

"We probed the cases and we found that some children had been adopted by people in Medan, Jakarta and Bandung," said Sofian.

He said the child trafficking and illegal adoptions had been reported to police.

Spokesman for the North Sumatra Police Sr. Comr. Bambang Prihady said officers were investigating the cases.

Child trafficking, and allegations and rumors of it, began to emerge after the tsunami last December, which left thousands homeless and/or orphaned. The tsunami triggered by a monster earthquake swept Aceh coastal areas on Dec. 26 and killed some 130,000 people in Aceh only. Four months later, another monster earthquake rocked Nias island, killing thousands.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005 Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

Around 50,000 earthquake survivors on Nias island are still living in tents and military-style barracks and more than 1,400 children are malnourished despite the millions of dollars in aid earmarked for the area, a study says.

Poor living conditions and food intake meant 1,463 children were found to be suffering from malnutrition, according to the study conducted by the Institute for Study and Policy Advocacy.

The Medan-based institute found tents and barracks spread throughout the Nias and South Nias regencies. Other refugees lived in relative's houses and government barracks.

Their daily situation was getting worse as aid from the government and donors had already run out three months ago, president director Efendi Panjaitan said.

In order to feed the children, the parents worked at anything they could, he said.

"In the past four months, we have found at least 1,463 refugee children suffering from malnutrition. That total number of children we found only in two subdistricts, so we predict that many more children in the island are suffering from malnutrition."

Efendi blamed government agencies for neglecting the situation.

He also regretted that the government and the Aceh and the Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Body (BRR) had been slow to rebuild the area, with important construction projects absent in several areas.

Responding to the study, a spokesman of the North Sumatra provincial government, R.E. Nainggolan, said the administration had not yet received any reports of malnutrition on the island.

He also denied reports that the flow of aid had stopped. The provincial government was still handing out aid to the residents on the island, the latest two weeks ago when the provincial government disbursed 50 kilograms of rice to each refugee family, he said.

The refugee families survived a huge 8.9-magnitude earthquake on Nias in March this year, which left thousands of people dead.

Tuesday, June 21, 2005 Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Several prominent figures from Nias alleged on Monday that dozens of children had been taken off the island illegally since the tsunami in December.

Director of Jakarta-based Nias Potential and Empowerment Council (LP2N) Ebenezer Hia said that in addition to the 10 children now under the social affairs ministry's custody, some 30 others had been taken to the capital in the past few months without going through proper procedures.

He said he had received many requests from Nias parents asking the council to trace their children's whereabouts after being taken to Jakarta by different foundations.

"The foundations left no addresses or contact numbers. They just took the children away without any letter of approval from their parents or documents from local authorities as we've found no records in the local administration office," Ebenezer said.

Ebenezer, together with several other Nias figures, arrived at the city police headquarters on Monday to demand that the 10 children under the social welfare ministry's care in Jakarta be returned to Nias as soon as possible.

The 10 were taken to Jakarta by four people identified as Hendra, Hikua, Yohana and Halana, workers with the Youth Foundation (YWAM) in Cipayung, East Jakarta and the Nation's Hope Foundation (YHB) in Parung, Bogor, West Java.

The four, however, failed to produce letters of consent from parents and approvals from local administrations as required by law in order to take children from their parents.

The four were subsequently arrested for questioning before they were released 24 hours later. After that police arrested the head of YHB in Parung, where the children were supposedly taken to.

The 10 children are Adil Putra Jaya Lombu, 3, Fiberman Lombu, 7, Pontianu Lombu, 4, Beziduhu Lombu, 6, Jois Dorkas Orienti Lombu, 4, Yuferius Lombu, 8, Miralina Lombu, 7, Yujuniman Lombu, 7, Jhoni Alexander Hululu, 5, and Dirman Pati Yulianu Ulu, 7.

Another prominent Nias figure S. Laoli, chairman of the Nias Society Association (Himni), claimed that hundreds of Nias children had been taken to many areas in Indonesia since the massive flood in 2001, and the trafficking worsened after the tsunami.

"We just have to do a survey to find out how many children have actually been taken from our island. Several mothers said to me that they had lost their children after a foundation took them away," he explained.

Chief of the women and children unit at the city police Comr. Sri Suwari said that the police would soon return all the children, who are now in a state-run orphanage in Bambu Apus, East Jakarta, to their parents in Nias.

"Hopefully, we can return the children to their parents on Wednesday. We have questioned all witnesses, including two men identified as Edo and Benny in Nias. For now, we haven't found a criminal offense in the case," she said.

Friday, June 17, 2005 Abdul Khalik and Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Bogor

Ten young children from Nias, brought to Jakarta on Tuesday without proper documents, will soon be returned to their parents, pending identification of their families and addresses in the earthquake-ravaged island.

Jakarta police said on Thursday that the children were currently staying at the government-run orphanage in Bambu Apus, East Jakarta.

"All of them are healthy. After discussions with the ministry of social affairs, we decided to put them in an orphanage under the ministry's auspices," Comr. Edi Tambunan, chief of women and children affairs at the city police, said.

He said that his team and a local non-governmental organization (NGO) in Nias were now trying to locate the parents because nobody else had the right to take care of them.

Jakarta police arrested on Tuesday four people identified as Hendra, Hikua, Yohana and Halana. They then took the 10 children away from them the group after they had all arrived together at Tanjung Priok port, presumably after taking the children off of Nias.

The children have been identified as Adil Putra Jaya Lombu, 3, Fiberman Lombu, 7, Pontianu Lombu, 4, Beziduhu Lombu, 6, Jois Dorkas Orienti Lombu, 4, Yuferius Lombu, 8, Miralina Lombu, 7, Yujuniman Lombu, 7, Jhoni Alexander Hululu, 5, and Dirman Pati Yulianu Ulu, 7.

The police discovered that the four adults did not have the necessary documents to take the kids from Nias island.

Suspecting that the four were part of a child trafficking syndicate, with the intention to sell them overseas, the police detained them and interrogated them.

It was found that the four were staff members from a group called the Youth Foundation (YWAM) based in Cipayung, East Jakarta and the Nation's Hope Foundation (YHB), based in Parung, Bogor, where the children were headed.

"After interrogating them for hours we had to release them as we found that other people had told them to bring the children to Jakarta. However, we are still keeping an eye on them. We suspect two men identified as Edo and Benni were responsible," Edi surmised.

The officers here also contacted the Nias police and a local NGO to locate the two men, he said.

Edi added that the police had not declared any suspects in the case as they were still searching for more evidence.

Meanwhile, the Bogor police arrested on Thursday YHB's chairwoman Yuniati, alias Aryanti, for illegally caring for nine children from Nias, one from Pontianak, one from Kupang and one from Palembang.

"We discovered that the foundation had no permits. So, they have no right to keep the children. They said that they were going to help the children go to school, but we don't care because they have no permits to take care of the children," avowed Parung subprecinct chief Adj. Comr. Rudi Hartono.

Rudi added that they would charge Yuniati with Article 9 of Law No. 23/2002 on child protection.

Fears of child trafficking also grew following the Dec. 26 tsunami, which displaced hundreds of thousands of families.

Tuesday, June 07, 2005 The massive quake that hit Nias island on March 28 has altered its position. (more…)

Sunday, May 29, 2005 Upon the invitation of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), The Jakarta Post's Chisato Hara observed the organization's assisted voluntary return program in Medan, in Gunung Sitoli, Nias, and onboard the USNS Mercy off the coast of Nias.

Adeli Zebua, 31, is still in pain from a leg injury he suffered during the catastrophic Nias earthquake of March 28, and hobbles on still-unfamiliar crutches into the lobby of a hotel in Medan, North Sumatra. He cannot straighten his right leg fully, and plops down on a chair with it extended out in front of him.

Adeli's five-year-old son Ardiman follows behind, carried by his sister Iberia, 36, who flew out to Medan when the two were evacuated for medical treatment. Ardiman appears either sleepy or tired, and is glum as he hangs onto his aunt's neck.

It is April 27, and the three are part of a group of seven Nias residents who will be flown home to the island under the assisted voluntary return program of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in coordination with the Croix-Rouge Francaise, the French Red Cross, which is providing a charter plane.

So far, the IOM has facilitated the return of about 100 medevacked Nias residents from various hospitals in the North Sumatra capital.

"Adeli broke his leg, and Ardiman broke both legs in the earthquake, and see? Now one is shorter than the other," said Iberia. The boy stands up, and his right leg is clearly shorter by about three centimeters or so.

"After potential returnees are discharged from local hospitals, we carry out an independent assessment to see if they are fit to travel. Unfortunately, sometimes their discharge papers are either incomplete or not detailed," said IOM Medan senior nurse coordinator Kristin Porca, a professional nurse from the Philippines.

The three have been staying at the local hotel for about a week since their discharge, waiting for their turn to go home. Adeli is anxious to get back — his wife gave birth while he was in Medan, and he has yet to meet his new daughter.

"We were lucky," said Iberia. "Adeli's house is completely destroyed and he lost his eight-year-old daughter, Sirina — but wealthy families had houses four stories tall that collapsed and killed everyone inside. A family of 15 people — that's three generations under one roof. No one came out alive of those great houses."

An IOM staffer takes care of the hotel bill — the organization provides accommodation as part of its program — and about 30 minutes later, a small van pulls up to transport the returnees and their IOM escorts to Polonia Airport.

The charter plane, a 14-passenger CASA 212, is parked in a hangar near the cargo bay, and an administrator from the IOM airport support office fills in the passenger manifest — including the weight of luggage and individual passengers.

Two other IOM vehicles are on their way to the airport with the rest of the returnees for that day: Requeli Sarumaha, 52, and his injured son Sugesti, 22; and Lolombowo Telambanua, 50, and his injured granddaughter Periwati, 8.

Requeli and Sugesti are in high spirits, happy to be going home. "My son has been to Medan, but I've never been off Nias," said Requeli, whose wife and five other children all survived with minor injuries — although his 18-year-old daughter Wati required 14 stitches for a head injury.

Sugesti, meanwhile, is standing off at a distance watching planes, with his forearm in a cast and a black cowboy hat slung behind his neck, and smiles broadly whenever he makes eye contact with anyone.

Lolombowo and his granddaughter are solemn, and the wiry grandfather carries Periwati from the car — her right leg is in a cast from hip to ankle.

While Ardiman's spirits have lifted at the sight of airplanes landing and taking off, Periwati hardly looks up, only occasionally peering up from under her bangs, then hiding her face in her grandfather's chest.

Later, Lolombowo explains: "Wati is an only child — her younger brother died when she was seven — and the earthquake took her mother and father, my only son. My wife is waiting for us on Nias, but what are we to do? We are not young anymore, and Wati's still so young. What will we do about her schooling?"

An IOM staffer passes out lunch parcels — fried chicken, green beans and soft drinks — and Ardiman munches his chicken and gulps Coca-Cola while cuddling a teddy bear he has pulled out from his bag. Occasionally, he burps, followed by a giggle: I love Coca-Cola. I can drink Coca-Cola all the time."

He has named his teddy bear Iom (ee-om) after the organization, whose nurses distributed donated toys to all Nias children evacuated to Medan.

"Next thing you know, there will be children named Iom," joked Marc Petzoldt, head of IOM's Nias operations.

As French Red Cross workers arrive — they are transporting pipes, a generator and other equipment to install running water in damaged areas on Nias — a freak thunderstorm builds up as it has done all week, and the flight is delayed due to uncertain weather conditions over the island.

The skies clear eventually, but there has been a change to the passenger manifest because of weight restrictions — Parco and a few other IOM escorts will not be coming, and some of the returnees' luggage will be sent the following day.

During the 1.5-hour flight, the returnees doze or rest — except Requeli, who looks nervous and strained as he grips the armrests. As Nias comes within view, however, his lined face brightens: "There it is! There's Nias!" he exclaims in a hushed voice to the others, who all lean over to his side of the plane to look out at the lush green island.

In contrast, the drive from Nias airport is one of scattered ruins. All along the road are collapsed houses and huts; in their front yards are tents bearing the logos of the Indonesian Red Cross, the International Red Cross/Crescent, Rotary International, Johannitas International Aid and other organizations.

"The worst damage was to the south," said Petzoldt, where Nias was known for its small but bustling surfing industry. "The bridge is down in Teluk Dalam. In other places, the road was lifted two, three meters by the quake, and there's only one major road. So there's great difficulty transporting heavy equipment on the island — the equipment and other materials needed to reconstruct bridges and roads."

The road to Gunung Sitoli is in good condition, but more destruction is evident as the capital draws near — four-story shop-houses have caved in completely, with their roofs resting atop their foundations, and others are literally piles of rubble with no semblance to its former structure. There seems to be no pattern to the destruction, and buildings in mint condition stand next to a leveled plot, where residents climb over rubble or under tilting tiers searching for reusable or resalable scrap material.

"But it's much better this week," continued Petzoldt. "Stores are open, there are more people out. Last week, downtown was still a ghost town, and it was quiet."

He points out a riverbank where several colorfully painted pontoons lie upended — the site of the central fish market, which was destroyed. "(The IOM) set up a temporary market in the main harbor on the other side of town, and it seems to be working. Fishermen have come out to trade again, and there seem to be more every day."

The central square, Lapangan Merdeka (Independence field), is the site of a base camp for relief efforts, where non-governmental organizations and government institutions — including the Social Welfare Department and the police's Mobile Brigade (Brimob) — have pitched their tents, and the Indonesian Red Cross-Riau (PMI Riau) runs a field clinic to provide free medical treatment.

Dr. Santosa of PMI Riau said the rotating teams — each consisting of one doctor, two medical workers and seven volunteers — had treated 150 to 180 people daily since the earthquake. "But it's dropping off now to about 100 people a day."

Aside from the Zebua family, who board a waiting bus, the other returnees will overnight at the base camp and await the arrival of their luggage.

Lolombowo is slightly frantic: "Our bags got left behind in Medan! How will we get them? And how will we get home (to our village)?"

He calms down somewhat when he is told the bags will arrive the next day, and that the IOM will provide transportation to his village.

Requeli, on the other hand, is beaming, happy just to be back on the island. "Just a small trip left. But I am home. It's good to be home," he said, and led the furrow-browed Lolombowo away to his tent. "You'll see, everything will be all right. We're being looked after."

Meanwhile, Adeli, Ardiman and Iberia have boarded an IOM minivan for a 15-minute drive up the hills to their kampong above Gunung Sitoli.

The neighborhood is subdued as the two cars arrive, although a few children and adults look curiously at the stopping vehicles. As Iberia and Ardiman emerge, a girl runs off to start the grapevine, and by the time Adeli alights, the cars are surrounded by neighbors shouting excitedly.

"Someone get his wife!" yells one man as he helps Adeli on his crutches to a nearby porch.

Everyone crowds around the three, welcoming them home.

A sobbing woman carrying a newborn comes through those assembled, and drops down on her knees to embrace her husband and to present their new daughter — her words are lost in her wails. She then turns to embrace Ardiman, and he sets his mouth in a hard line, trying not to cry in front of the entire kampong. He soon gives up the fight and sobs with his mother.

From somewhere, a smaller version of Ardiman appears — his younger brother — and jumps onto Adeli's lap.

The neighbors press ever closer in a tight ring around the reunified family, and soon, jokes are made and laughter marks the occasion.

Adeli's wife is still overwhelmed as she approaches Petzolt, and it is all she can manage to say thank you.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you for bringing them home …," she says, then buries her face in her baby daughter's blanket. She tries to introduce the baby, and gets out "Sira …", but the rest is lost in fresh tears.

Is she named after Sirina, the daughter she lost?

"Yes. We lost a daughter. But have gained one. And now (Adeli and Ardiman) are home. We are a family again."

Sunday, May 29, 2005

The March 28 earthquake on Nias, off the western coast of Sumatra, devastated the island and its residents' lives, killing about 2,000 people and injuring hundreds of others.

Dozens of international aid organizations, non-governmental organizations and government institutions working to recover Aceh responded immediately, sending emergency teams to Nias, and donors channeled fresh funds toward new disaster relief efforts for the quake victims, including evacuating those with major injuries to Medan hospitals for medical treatment.

While the evacuation of injured by first responders has received much media coverage, an equally important aspect is the follow-up process of getting them back home. One organization that facilitates their return is the International Organization for Migration (IOM), an independent organization that coordinates with host governments and partner organizations in humanitarian and emergency responses involving "irregular" migrants — typically in conflict, post-conflict and disaster areas.

At the request of North Sumatra Governor Rizal Nurdin, the IOM arranged the return of over 350 Nias residents who had been medevacked to mainland Sumatra for medical treatment — after first tracking down the whereabouts of potential returnees through local hospitals.

Those who have been discharged from hospitals are assessed by the IOM's medical professionals for their fitness to travel, and are then provided hotel accommodation in Medan until the next available flight.

The IOM's assisted voluntary return program — returnees are given the option of going home or not — and other disaster relief programs for Nias were funded by the European Commission Host Organization, or ECHO, the humanitarian aid department of the European Commission.

As of May 23, 319 returnees have been flown back to Nias — 171 patients and 148 family escorts — in addition to 462 people who were treated on Nias or aboard the USNS Mercy.

About 100 others determined to be unfit for travel remain in Medan, mostly those receiving follow-up treatment and those under observation. One such individual is a woman who just gave birth on May 18, and will be returned soon with her newborn.

While clearing and reconstruction work as well as aid distribution on Nias progresses, the IOM estimates that all medevacked Nias residents will have been returned to their hometowns by June. — The Jakarta Post

Friday, May 27, 2005

MEDAN, North Sumatra: The Nias administration said on Thursday that some 8,000 people, many of whom had lost family and houses in a massive quake two months ago, were still living in temporary camps.

Many of the displaced persons are suffering from various ailments, including respiratory diseases, according to Nias Deputy Regent Agus Mendrofa.

The situation in the camps has deteriorated as the people have received less and less food aid and medicine, Agus said, adding that there were also fewer social and health workers in the camps.

Agus urged all parties, including the central government, to remember the victims of the Nias earthquake.

A massive quake rocked Nias island on March 28. Hundreds of people died and thousands more were injured. — JP