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DNA identification to prevent trafficking
From The Jakarta Post:
Indonesia’s Eijkman Institute, in cooperation with international project DNA-ProKids, says it would join the fight against child trafficking through DNA identification.
“Human trafficking is a global problem,” Eijkman Institute deputy director Herawati Sudoyo said Thursday during a seminar in Jakarta on the use of DNA to identify children.
The Eijkman DNA project works by comparing a missing child’s DNA with their parents’ and preventing illegal adoptions, which could lead to trafficking.
Herawati said the institute used scientific data to prove incidents of child trafficking.
She cited an example of the use of DNA identification following the earthquake in Haiti in January 2010 when 25 children were moved to Bolivia by people who could not prove their parenthood.
However, Bolivian Police intercepted them on their way to Brazil and Argentina by using DNA identification to prove the biological relationship between the “parents” and children.
Herawati said 13 children were reunited with their biological parents thanks to DNA identification while the rest remained in Bolivia before being handed over to the Haitian government.
Herawati said another way to prevent child trafficking was by preventing children from being adopted illegally.
“We can check the biological relationship between the children to be adopted with the relatives who give them up for adoption,” she said, adding that DNA-ProKids would work with the police and the Commission on Child Protection.
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