International baby trafficking syndicate uncovered in Indonesia

Police in Indonesia recently stopped six babies from being trafficked to overseas buyers in Singapore.  Authorities found the traffickers are part of an international baby trafficking syndicate operating in Asia.  

Reserved while still in the womb 

Women in desperate situations—that’s who the trafficking syndicate was targeting for its nefarious work. Abortion is illegal in Indonesia except under narrow circumstances. That can leave mothers with unwanted pregnancies in extremely desperate circumstances. According to law enforcement, the recently uncovered syndicate specifically targeted expectant mothers they thought didn’t want to raise their child.

Ai Rahmayanti, commissioner of the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) told The BBC, 

“(the mothers) became pregnant due to sexual violence, abandonment by the husband, or unwanted pregnancies from casual relationships” 

The women were struggling financially and desperate for help. That’s when traffickers, whose job it was to find expectant mothers in crisis, swooped in.  

West Java Police’s director of general criminal investigation, Surawan explained the process, saying, 

“Some babies were even reserved while still in the womb, and once born, the delivery costs were covered, then compensation money was given, and the baby was taken.”  

After those tasked with identifying and tracking down desperate mothers had picked up the baby, they left them for a few months with “caretakers.” The babies were eventually moved to an Indonesian city while the syndicate arranged fake immigration documents. Then they were sent on to Singapore to the buyers. 

Babies sold for $673 USD 

According to Rahmayanti, baby trafficking syndicates often use lies and deception to convince vulnerable mothers to give up their babies. Evidently, they pretend to be maternity clinics, orphanages or social shelters and promise to care for the desperate mother and her baby.   

Rahmayanti stated:, 

“These clinics or shelters use language that sounds compassionate at first, such as ‘you can give birth and take your baby home’. But in reality, they offer money and illegally transfer custody of the baby.”  

Consequently, the babies are sold to overseas buyers for between 11 million Indonesian rupiah ($673 USD) and 16 million Indonesian rupiahs. Unfortunately, Indonesia doesn’t keep official data on the numbers of babies being sold. However, KPAI’s own data on human trafficking crimes underline that the trend is persistent and its only growing. Evidence points to at least 25 babies as having been sold in Singapore since 2023.  

While authorities have made 13 arrests, there are still a lot more they hope to make. KPAI recorded only 11 cases of children as victims of illegal adoption in 2020.  But in 2023 it recorded 59 cases related to child abduction and trafficking under the guise of illegal adoption. While the data for 2024 isn’t in yet, experts expect those numbers to rise. The most pressing task now for Indonesian law enforcement is to track down the adopters in Singapore and try to bring them to justice. 

Children should never be a saleable product  

Turning a child into a product for sale is one of the most heinous forms of modern slavery. Like baby trafficking, orphanage trafficking is another aspect of child trafficking where children who may or may not be orphans are kept in orphanages, all to attract donations and volunteers for the operations owners. Living in facilities where profit not protection is the model, children are regularly subjected to neglect and abuse. That’s why at Freedom United we say “NO” to turning children into products, no matter what it’s called.