Indonesia jails parents for letting their children go out to earn a living.
Authorities in Karimun district, Riau province, Indonesia, recently announced they will imprison parents who force their children to wander the streets doing jobs such as begging, shoe shining, or selling newspapers.
Children begging in Jakarta, Indonesia. Photo: SP.
Ms. Mitrayati, head of the Karimun County branch of the Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Agency, said that parents will have two weeks to rectify the government's warning and will face imprisonment under the Child Protection Act if they allow their children to continue wandering the streets. The government will provide free education and healthcare to help eliminate street children.Meanwhile, the head of the Karimun County branch of the Social Security Agency stated that the organization will continue to accept children who are forced to wander the streets due to unavoidable circumstances into social care facilities, in order to support the county government's goal of completely eliminating street children by 2013.
Karimun is an archipelago of 27 islands located in the Java Sea, with a total land area of 78 km2, of which the main island, Karimun, covers approximately 2,700 hectares. In 2011, 22 of the Karimun islands were recognized as a marine protected area under the collective name "Karimunjawa National Park". The remaining five islands are privately owned and under the control of the Indonesian Navy.
According to VNA-M