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Before the debris settled on the devastating Southeast Asia tsunami of December 26, reports of human trafficking emerged from the region. With the death toll now higher than 200,000, tens of thousands still missing, and entire costal villages decimated, it’s hard to imagine things getting much worse for the nations involved. Yet as incomprehensible as it seems, evidence is mounting that child trafficking gangs are preying on the region’s thousands of children who are orphaned or separated from their parents.
It is estimated that 1.5 million children were affected by the tsunami, and tens of thousands have lost one or both parents. These shell-shocked children, many of whom wandered unaccompanied though their destroyed villages, have lost everything in life that is familiar to them. Their homes and towns are destroyed, their family and friends gone. Many have had nothing to eat or drink and no place to sleep.
It is easy to see how young victims of a natural disaster become targets to those perpetrating one of the world’s worst disasters. The destruction affords the “perfect opportunity” for traffickers in Indonesia to sell children into forced labor and sexual slavery in neighboring countries such as Malaysia and Singapore, UNICEF spokesperson John Budd told the BBC. He also confirmed reports of text messages distributed around Asia advertising orphans for sale.
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