Indonesian govt says adoption of 18 children in Singapore illegal

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4 hours ago

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesia’s Social Affairs Ministry says the adoption of 18 Indonesian children in Singapore was illegal because it failed to comply with adoption procedures and requirements under Indonesian law.

Speaking in Jakarta on Thursday, Child Social Rehabilitation Director Kahono Agung Suhartoyo said some of the children, victims of a trafficking syndicate uncovered by West Java police in 2025, had obtained Singaporean citizenship.

Singaporean courts granted citizenship to those children, while adoption proceedings involving the remaining eight are still underway.

“Singaporean authorities asked us about the eight children whose adoption cases are still being processed. We said the adoptions were illegal because they did not meet Indonesia’s requirements,” he said.

Suhartoyo said Indonesia imposes strict regulations on international adoptions.

All applications must be submitted through the Child Adoption Advisory Team (Tim PIPA), which includes representatives from various government ministries and institutions.

Its members include the police, National Police Security Intelligence Agency (Baintelkam), Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI), and the foreign and social affairs ministries.

Prospective adoptive parents must have lived in Indonesia for at least two years, be no older than 55 and pass physical and psychological health assessments.

Suhartoyo said the government considered the overseas adoptions procedurally invalid because the children’s transfer involved a trafficking syndicate, as established by a Bandung court ruling.

“We are maintaining close communication and coordination through the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore to explore possible solutions, including returning the children to Indonesia,” he said.

The Social Affairs Ministry is ready to protect the children and provide social rehabilitation if they are repatriated to Indonesia.

The ministry is also tracing the children’s biological parents to ensure their eventual reintegration into their families.

Suhartoyo said KPAI findings indicated that the children came from families in West Java, but their civil registration documents were falsified to identify them as residents of West Kalimantan.

“The ministry is ready to receive the children and provide rehabilitation within its mandate. Since they are still babies, we will first trace their parents and establish their whereabouts,” he said.

“We will then ensure their return to their families, a process known as reintegration,” Suhartoyo added.