Children orphaned by tsunami ‘prey to abduction’

SUNAMI orphans could be targeted by criminal gangs who want to sell them, child protection experts warned last night.

The United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF, fears gangs are posing as aid agencies or family friends amid rumours of a text message in circulation which has put 300 orphans “up for sale”.

Indonesia has banned the transfer of children under 16 from the devastated province of Aceh.

UNICEF said it had received several reports of criminals offering kidnapped children from Aceh for sale or adoption.

John Budd, UNICEF spokesman in Indonesia, said there had been one confirmed case of child smuggling.

He said there were also unconfirmed reports of up to 20 other children being taken to Malaysia, and possibly hundreds to Jakarta.

Mr Budd added: “I don’t think you could have a more vulnerable child on Earth than a child in this situation.

“A young child who has gone through what they have witnessed will be barely surviving in terms of psychological health.”

Mr Budd stressed that at least some of these children could have been taken by people who were simply well-meaning.

But UNICEF is very concerned that others were being abducted by organised gangs posing as NGOs or family friends.

Mr Budd has recently become aware of a text message being sent widely around Asia advertising 300 Aceh orphans for sale.

He said that as a matter of urgency, UNICEF was setting up registration schemes around Aceh to account for all children currently on their own.

Meanwhile, Swedish and Thai police are searching for a 12-year-old Swedish boy. Kristian Walker was last seen leaving a Thai hospital with an unknown man.

A boy matching Kristian’s description was last seen with a German man at a hospital near Khao Lak on Monday, but has since vanished, despite a desperate search by his American grandfather, Daniel Walker.

Kristian’s father, Dan Walker, said he was fearful that his son may have fallen prey to paedophiles that have been known to gather in Thailand, or child trafficking rings, but was not sure.

“I can only guess, and you can only guess, what has happened to him,” Mr Walker said yesterday.

While he acknowledged that his son may have already been taken out of Thailand, Mr Walker said he has urged Thai authorities to send Kristian’s picture to all border patrols and airports to help prevent him from leaving the country.

In the wake of the devastating tsunami, there have been unconfirmed reports of dozens of orphaned children taken by unidentified people, some of them possibly child traffickers.

This week, the Swedish branch of Save the Children, or Raedda Barnen, warned governments in south Asia to be mindful of children left orphaned or without families in the disaster, saying they could be potential targets for paedophiles.

“The experience from other catastrophes is that children are particularly vulnerable,” said Charlotte Petri Gornitzka, managing director of the agency.

Swedish and Thai police said they were searching for the boy.

Two Swedish police officers were assisting in the investigation, National Police spokeswoman Carolina Ekeus said.

Thai Police Lieutenant Colonel Preecha Kraewthanong said they were checking border points to see whether the boy and the man had left.

“We are looking for him to be sure whether he kidnapped the boy or not” he said.

Dr Pisith Yongyuth, director of Taimuang hospital in Phang Nga province, said a German man brought a boy who might be Kristian to the hospital around 1am on December 27 - the day after the tsunami hit - accompanied by another boy aged about eight. By late morning, all three had left.