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Banda Aceh. Police in East Aceh district are interrogating a 32-year-old man after they foiled the trafficking of three teenage Acehnese girls, who had been held in Medan. Police said they were on their way to be sold off as sex workers.

East Aceh Police Chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Ridwan Usman said over the weekend that parents of the 14-year-old girls had reported them missing since March 29. Police tracked down their whereabouts, before forming a special team of officers to conduct a raid of a rented home in Medan on Friday, he said.

The girls, all residents of Peureulak and students of Alue Nireh state junior high school in East Aceh, were found at that home along with the suspected trafficker, identified as North Aceh resident Sulaiman.

“They were lured to become baby sitters by the suspected trafficker and promised pay of between Rp 500,000 and Rp 800,000 [$55 to $88] a month,” Ridwan said.

Before they were taken to Medan, the three girls had first been “rounded up” at a location in North Aceh, he said, adding that police would most likely declare more suspects as the investigation goes forward.

“When we found the girls, they looked dazed and disoriented. All three come from poor families. They were easily lured.”

Nasruddin Abubakar, deputy chief of East Aceh district, said he was quite certain the girls would have been sent off to become sex workers in Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries.

Nasruddin demanded that police investigate the case to combat the trafficking of teenage girls overseas.

“This is not only a violation of our laws but a violation of moral ethics. The suspect must be punished as severely as possible because he attempted to destroy the morality structure of our Acehnese youth,” Nasruddin said.

Magdalena Sitorus, a member of the Indonesia Child Protection Commission (KPAI), told the Jakarta Globe that efforts to protect the safety of children should begin at the village administration level.

“Anybody wanting to move from one village to another must first secure a permit from the village head. If a suspected criminal activity occurs, we can trace the whereabouts,” Magdalena said.

“Educating locals about the dangers of human trafficking is key, because many people still are not aware how trafficking networks operate.

“Poverty is the root of most cases and it should be handled immediately, as cases have become more rampant.”

Yuniyanti Chuzaifah, chief of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), said the government should have set up a more systematic approach to curb human trafficking.

“If the government can unravel terrorism and corruption cases, why can’t they unravel human trafficking? Women have been put as commodities. It destroys them, their family and children,” Yuniyanti said.

According to International Labor Organization estimates, 100,000 Indonesian children are trafficked every year.