Baby traffickers convicted in Indonesia
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Alex Ritson and on Tuesday 21st July, these are our main stories. A court in Indonesia has convicted 19 people of trafficking at least 34 babies by selling them for adoption in Indonesia and Singapore. Lebanon's president is due to meet Donald Trump as so-called pilot safe zones come into force in southern Lebanon with the support of Israel and enforced by Lebanese troops. Health officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo say the Ebola outbreak is spreading further after a new affected health zone was confirmed in a Turi province. Also in this podcast... Trent Park House was prison for captured German generals, but microphones were hidden inside skirting boards, window ledges, garden benches and even the billiard table.
What does a new London museum tell us about surveillance during World War II? We begin in Indonesia, where in a high-profile court case, 19 people have been convicted of illegally buying and selling children for adoption. The child trafficking ring, which has been operating since 2023, illegally bought babies in West Java and sold them for adoption in both Indonesia and Singapore.
What happened in the Indonesian baby trafficking court case and who was convicted?
It was led by a 70-year-old woman who recruited others to broker deals and pose as the children's biological mothers. or 100 jail terms, ranging from three to seven years. But the verdict leaves many questions unanswered, particularly whether the adopted babies will be taken back to their biological families. Our correspondent Lisa Tamburnan told me more about the case.
This had been going on for years and it was revealed in court that the way that the trafficking ring operated was reaching out to parents via social media and even WhatsApp with an excuse of wanting to adopt their child. And later it was actually found out that they were essentially selling these babies and some of... The people in Singapore who adopted them were actually not aware of the circumstances surrounding this because from the Indonesian side, it was found out that there were legal documents and these legal documents were actually proper. But what was not proper was the information that was stipulated in these documents.
The birth parents, did they realise that they were selling their children?
This is also another complexity with the case, because as it is understood that some of the parents who gave up their children in these adoption processes, they are facing economic hardship. So they were aware that they were getting some monetary compensation. However, as it is understood, the compensation was actually much smaller than what was later revealed in the investigation, where a child that was sent to Singapore could have been bought for almost $14,000. And it is known that most of this money stayed within the middlemen.
What are people making of this in Singapore and in Indonesia?
There's now very serious concern regarding child protection in Indonesia. However, on one hand, in Indonesia, it is not uncommon to, quote unquote, give your child to perhaps a better off relative. or a friend who could take better care of your child. But these are not legal adoption processes. And in this case, the fact that so many nuances to this case also brought out the complexities of parents who don't have another choice or other opportunities to improve the welfare of their family or their children.
This has been going on for a long time. What's going to happen to those children who've been perhaps living with families for some time?
That is one of the main concerns because as far as it is understood, the parents who adopted them went through legal means. So there are complexities in ways of handling this post-verdict. We have not gotten an explanation from the officials overseeing those cases in which the children have been adopted into families in Singapore.
Liza Tambunan. A deal to secure an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and the disarmament of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah is facing its first test on the ground.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–2:11
2
What happened in the Indonesian baby trafficking court case and who was convicted?
2:11–18:04
3
How did the trafficking ring operate and who were the victims and buyers?
18:04–31:03
4
What legal and ethical questions remain about the adopted babies' futures?
31:03–31:08
Speakers
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