A sick world gets sicker: "U.N. Warns on Child Traffickers After Tsunami"

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,143320,00.html

Fears Rise of Child Trafficking After Tsunami

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Fearing child-trafficking gangs will exploit the chaos of the tsunami disaster, Indonesia has placed restrictions on youngsters leaving the country, ordered police commanders to be on the lookout for trafficking and posted special guards in refugee camps.

UNICEF (search) and other child welfare groups warn that the gangs — who are well-established in Indonesia — may well be whisking orphaned children into trafficking networks, selling them into forced labor or even sexual slavery in wealthier neighboring countries such as Malaysia and Singapore.

Such trafficking, if confirmed, would vastly deepen the suffering of children already struck hard by the Dec. 26 massive earthquake and tsunami. Indonesia estimates that 35,000 children on Sumatra island's Aceh (search) province lost one or both parents to the disaster.

Fueling the suspicions, many Indonesians have received mobile phone text messages this week inviting them to adopt orphans from Aceh. The police are investigating the messages. It's not clear whether such messages are pranks, real adoption offers or linked in some way to trafficking networks. The Associated Press was unable to get through to phone numbers given on two of the messages. But child welfare experts warn the messages could be a sign that children are being removed from the province, reducing their chances of being reunited with relatives or surviving parents who may be searching for them.

[nine23]

1. The very thought is so very, very depressing.

[Must_B_Free]

2. 12 year old dutch(?) boy presumed kidnapped

my wife saw this on TV. The boy was seen leaving with a dark haired gentleman.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

3. Yes, Fox reports this:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,143280,00.html

Swedish Boy Feared Kidnapped in Tsunami Aftermath

STOCKHOLM, Sweden — The hunt was on Tuesday for a 12-year-old Swedish boy who's been missing since he was spotted leaving a hospital in post-tsunami Thailand with an unidentified man.

Swedish and Thai police were jointly conducting the search effort for the adolescent, Kristian Walker (search), who was apparently last seen Monday with an unknown German man at a hospital near the resort of Khao Lak (search).

The pair left the facility in the wake of the Christmas weekend tsunami disaster that has ravaged much of south Asia, including vacation spots in Thailand. A boy matching Kristian's description was seen with the man, but the child has since vanished, seemingly without a trace. His American grandfather, Daniel Walker, and his father, Dan Walker, are involved in the desperate search to find the missing child.

Swedish and Thai police said they were searching for the boy, but said they could not confirm media reports that he had been kidnapped. The boy was listed as missing by international law enforcement agencies worldwide Tuesday.

[Old Mouse]

4. After the Kobe quake in Japan

scores of confused, shocked and homeless women were raped before order was restored.

Chaos can bring out the worst in man. Character is what you are in the dark.