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ACOMMEMORATION of Indonesia's National Children's Day turned sour on Wednesday, when the government refused to allow children to publicly read out their demand for a special ministry of their own.
The request was the last point of a six-point declaration drafted during the recent 7th Indonesian Children's Congress in Bogor, West Java.
Children aged between 12 and 18 had taken part in the event organised by the Social Services Ministry.
The restriction, which the children took to be a denial of freedom of expression, took place right under the nose of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who was at the park in East Jakarta, along with dignitaries and 15,000 children.
It is unclear if the President knew about the censorship.
The children's representatives said the event organisers had forbidden them from making the demand for "political reasons".
"We feel hurt by the restriction. The declaration is just an expression of our ideas, so we should have been allowed to speak out," said Ajat Sudrajat, who had signed the declaration.
"We don't care if the ministry can be established only in the next 10 years or so. We just want to be heard."
Other points in the declaration, "Voice of Indonesian Children", included the aspiration to be creative and intelligent children, protected from violence or exploitation, and a desire to be protected from "the dangers of tobacco in order to grow and develop as naturally as possible".
Social Services Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah defended the restriction.
"I explained to (the children) the condition of our country. It is impossible for the government to set up the ministry because it would increase the burden on the state budget.
"Maybe we can make it come true only within the next 20 years, when our country's economy has improved."
It is unclear why this meant the children could not declare their wish.
Mr Bachtiar also asked the children to stop demanding their own rights.
National Commission for Child Protection secretary-general Arist Merdeka Sirait said the restriction showed the government's lack of commitment to addressing the problems Indonesian children face.
"We urgently need a ministry that deals with children's affairs, as the government has failed to address their problems, such as violence and child labour," he said.
The commission estimated that 6.5 million children in the country were forced to quit school last year in order to work.
- JAKARTA POST/ ANN
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