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Up to 20 paedophiles from Australia who tried to travel to tsunami-ravaged countries were stopped under the rules of the new child sex offender register, it was reported. The convicted offenders, whose names are on the recently set up national register, had to tell police of their plans to travel. The Australian newspaper reported that their travel details were sent by police to Indonesian and Thai authorities who refused them entry. Child Wise director Bernadette McMenamin told AAP authorities had known that paedophiles would be targeting children in countries that had been hit by the tsunami. She said it was well known that when countries experienced natural disasters or military crises paedophiles exploited the instability. "Post-tsunami we expected that a lot of Australian child sex offenders would target these countries," she said. Ms McMenamin said she was happy the new child sex offender register had worked but said more could be done to stop Australian paedophiles from abusing children overseas. She called for the government to prevent "professional" recidivist paedophiles from travelling overseas at all. "We do think that some offenders are too high risk and they shouldn't be allowed to travel overseas," she said. "I have checked with the Department of Foreign Affairs and they said they do have the power to remove passports from people who they believe will harm others overseas." Child sex offender registers have been set up in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory and are being prepared in the other states and territories. The state registers are linked to the national register, and police believe there will be 15,000 paedophiles listed by the end of the year. AAP (16-4-2005) |
MAKO/Files Online.. Listing Australian Convicted Paedophiles/ Sex Offenders.. FREE Public Service..
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FEARS are growing for children orphaned in the tsunami disaster after a senior UN official warned of credible reports that criminal gangs in Indonesia are offering them for adoption or exploitation. Carol Bellamy, executive director of Unicef, said organised syndicates were exploiting the crisis in Aceh province. They have been using sophisticated technology such as SMS messages to people throughout this region offering children for adoption," she said, citing reports from Unicefs partner agencies in Indonesia. " Whether it is [for] adoption or exploitation purposes or sex trafficking, these are criminal elements so it is very important not to let them get a foothold." Sri Lanka is already compiling a register of orphaned children to forestall attempted trafficking. And Indonesian authorities are investigating rumours of child trafficking to Java and abroad but say there is as yet no evidence to substantiate the reports. Commander General Suyitno Landung said officers were paying particular attention to Medan, a city south of Aceh. They've been tasked to check refugee camps as to whether children there were evacuated with their families or with other people," he said. "Tbe data will be compiled and cross-checked." On Monday the Indonesian Government banned Acehnese under-16s from leaving the country. The Medan-based Aceh Sepakat Foundation has found evidence that 20 Acehnese children have been smuggled out of the province since the disaster, according to Jakarta Post newspaper. It has quoted an Aceh Sepakat manager, Mazria, as saying the children were allegedly whisked to Malaysia and the city of Bandung in West Java by an unnamed organisation in Medan. The newspaper also reported that an unnamed foundation was offering Acehnese children for fostering via cellphone text message. Indonesian social affairs ministry data shows that about 35,000 Acehnese children lost one or both of their parents in the disaster. In Sri Lanka, Unicef said there were no confirmed cases of abduction but it was working with the Government to register every child in the country's makeshift refugee camps. "The aim is to identify and register all children, separate those who are unaccompanied from the rest of the camp population, and arrange for fostering, preferably by a member of the extended family, or otherwise by a reputable foster carer," Ted Chaiban, Unicefs representative in Sri Lanka, said. Save the Children spokeswoman Laura Conrad said there had been a few "fairly unsubstantiated reports" of adults in eastern Sri Lanka making false claims to be children's parents. "The vast majority of children are being extremely well cared for by relatives," she added. The Herald (8-1-2005) John Aglionby/ Johnathon Steele/ Brian Whitaker. |
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A BOY whose mother died in the tsunami is feared to have been kidnapped from a Thai hospital by a pedophile. Kristian Walker, 12, from Stockholm, was said to have been led away by a dark-haired stranger. Swedish police sent seven officers to Thailand to investigate. The boy's father, Dan Walker said he was gravely concerned for his son. He said that Kristian and two of his other children went on holiday to the Thai resort of Khao Lak with his mother - Mr Walker's ex-wife - and her boyfriend. When the tsunami struck their hotel, Mr Walker's ex-wife was thought to have died along with her boyfriend and Kristian. The other two children survived. Mr Walker flew to Thailand to pick up the two and returned to Sweden with them, only to learn Kristian had been taken to a hospital near Khao Lak by a middle-aged, moustached European on the day of the tsunami. "Kristian was treated and released, but he was brought back the following day by the same man to have his wounds treated. Then, once again they left, hand in hand, and haven't been seen since," he said. Mr Walker said his father, an American citizen, was in Thailand looking for the youngster. Dr Kampongsree Somprutthana confirmed Kristian was treated at the hospital. "Kristian was here in the hospital," he said. "He was taken away by a man." The man he left with was described as "European-looking, with a moustache and a red shirt". A child protection group has warned that pedophiles could be taking advantage of the chaos to prey on youngsters. Karren Flanagan, Australian spokeswoman for anti-child sex tourism group Child Wise, said, "It was possible pedophiles could snatch children orphaned by the disaster or kids wandering alone after being cut off from relatives. "In times of natural disasters or war children become even more vulnerable," Ms Flanagan said. "It doesn't surprise us at all that these things are starting to happen." Indonesian authorities have launched an investigation into reports of trafficking of children orphaned by the quake. There have also been claims of sexual abuse of children in Sri Lanka. Herald Sun (5-1-2005) |
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CRIMINALS and opportunists are taking advantage of the disaster in some areas, relief workers warn. A UNICEF official in India said a man, who claimed to be an uncle of an orphaned boy, turned out to be a fraudster after the child refused to go with him. "Obviously, these orphans are precious to their relatives and even others not related, for the money relief offered by the government, founder of a Madras- based charity, S. Vidyaakar said. Carol Bellamy, executive director of the UN Children's Fund, said in Colombo that "in tumult tike this, when families are broken apart, when incomes are lost, when dignity and hope are in short supply, children are more vulnerable to abuses". In Sri Lanka reports have emerged some survivors driven from their homes may have been molested or even gang raped at refugee shelters. "We have received reports of incidents of rape, gang rape, molestation and physical abuse of women and girls in the course of unsupervised rescue operations and while resident in temporary shelters," the rights group, Women and Media Collective, said. It provided no details. Also in Sri Lanka, reports said bodies of victims had been stolen from hospitals and sold to distraught , relatives while fingers and ears of corpses had been chopped off to steal jewellery. In Thailand, it was feared a 12-year-old Swedish boy injured in the chaos may have been kidnapped after a hospital worker reported seeing him alive. Although not officially confirmed, Swedish and Thai police are co- operating to find the boy, Kristian Walker. Adelaide Advertiser (5-1-2005) |
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