Reunification Story of Nurul, a Baby from Abu Dhabi

JAKARTA (March 31, 2021) - Since 2019, the "Handayani" Children's Center has collaborated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in dealing with Undocumented Children (ATT) from abroad. ATT are children of Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMI) who were deported to their homeland because of problems with population documents or were abandoned by their parents.

Most of them were deported from the Middle East, Taiwan and Malaysia. At least more than 20 children were referred to the "Handayani" Children's Center, and most of them have been reunified with their closest relatives.

Nurul (not her real name), is a 1 year old baby who was deported from Abu Dhabi who has just been reunified with his closest relatives in Karawang. In December 2020, Nurul was repatriated to Indonesia because his mother died while giving birth to her. Unfortunately, Nurul's father's whereabouts are unknown to this day.

Armed with the address from Nurul's return document, the social worker of "Handayani" Chuldren's Center in collaboration with the Karawang Regency Social Office and Social Worker Serve Unit (Sakti Peksos) then conducted a search for the child's close relatives who were known to be in Karawang. As a result, Nurul is known to have a grandmother, aunt, and seven half-siblings from his mother's marriage before going to Abu Dhabi.

"Yes, she is the daugher of my older sister who died a year ago in UEA," said Mrs. Rania (not her real name) to the team who came to her house during a home visit.

Mrs. Rania is the younger sister of Nurul's parent who also take care of 2 Nurul's older siblings. To Social Workers, Rania said she is ready to take care of Nurul if she was returned to her family.

"When we were contacted about Nurul, at first we were surprised, because my sister never told us that she had a child in UEA. But we are happy because Nurul can return to Indonesia, especially my mother, who can't wait to meet her," she explained.

The results of the home visit and assessment showed that Mrs. Rania was considered worthy of caring for Nurul. Economically, Rania's husband has a fairly stable business and income. Meanwhile, physically, Mrs. Rania is still fit and healthy. In addition, Mrs. Rania will be assisted by her mother in raising children.

"Mrs. Rania is the child's closest family. We have also held a case conference with related parties and agreed to return Nurul to family care," said Head of the "Handayani" Children's Center, Hasrifah Musa.

Today (31/3), Nurul has been reunified with her family in Karawang. This reunification was accompanied directly by the Karawang Social Office, represented by the Head of the Social Security Section for Victims of Violence and Trafficking in Persons, Lilis Tresnawati, and Sakti Peksos Hilmi. The Social Office promised to carry out regular monitoring of Nurul's family regarding parenting.