Indonesia to deport 20 teachers amid child sex abuse scandal at Jakarta school
Indonesia said it would deport 20 foreign teachers working at a prestigious international school for immigration violations after an outcry sparked by allegations a child was sexually abused by cleaning staff there.
Indonesia said it would deport 20 foreign teachers working at a prestigious international school for immigration violations after an outcry sparked by allegations a child was sexually abused by cleaning staff there.
The teachers, from the Jakarta International School, are of various nationalities, and include Americans, Australians and Britons, senior immigration official Maryoto Sumadi said.
"Of the 26 teachers we investigated, 20 had committed immigration violations and will be deported," he said, explaining they were doing work that differed from their official job descriptions given to authorities.
The decision follows a scandal sparked in April by the alleged sexual assault of a six-year-old boy by cleaners at the school, which is a favourite with the capital's expatriates and wealthy Indonesians.
The crisis escalated when a second child came forward claiming to have been abused, and it emerged an American teacher who used to work at the school was a suspected serial paedophile under investigation by the FBI.
The case sparked widespread anger among the public and soul-searching in the media about the high incidence of sexual abuse at the country's schools.
Maryoto said 11 of the teachers would be deported on Friday and the others later.
"They have misused their residence permits by declaring a profession different from the scope of their job at the school," he said.
He said the teachers being deported are nine Americans, two Australians, two Canadians, a New Zealander, a Singaporean, a Taiwanese, a Briton, a South African, an Indian and a Turk.
Of those investigated, one had been cleared of breaking immigration rules while five others were still being probed, he said.
Authorities have ordered the nursery where the alleged abuse took place to close, and police have arrested several cleaners contracted from an outside company over the allegations.
The school has strengthened security measures and pledged to cooperate with authorities' investigations.
About 3,000 cases of sexual abuse of minors were reported to the national commission for child protection last year, 30 per cent in schools.
