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Missing Malaysian girls believed to be in Indonesia

08 May 2008, JAKARTA - Many Malaysian girls reported missing by their families have ended up in Indonesia, PAS vice-president Datuk Husam Musa said. Husam through his non-governmental organisation Kijang Care and in collaboration with other NGOs, has traced two Malaysian girls who were taken to Lombok, Indonesia, without the consent of their families.

He claimed that many of the girls had either eloped with their boyfriends or were conned by tricksters and that he planned to head to Indonesia in July to negotiate with community leaders for their safe return. “At this juncture, we cannot reveal the number of girls over there but we hope to bring them back to Malaysia,” Husam said after opening a homestay programme at Kampung Mek Mas in Kijang here.

Husam also talked about Nurul Wahida Hamzah, who had gone missing in 2005 and was reunited with her family on Wednesday. The 20-year-old was traced to East Indonesia by a non-governmental organisation called Migrant Care. This is the second successful search and rescue effort jointly undertaken by the Indonesia-based Migrant Care and Kijang Care.

Three years ago, after completing her SPM examination, Nurul Wahida left for Lombok Timur with an Indonesian man, M. Yusup, 40, who was a construction worker in Teluk Intan, Perak. Two months ago, the NGOs also tracked down 13-year-old Che Siti Nor Azreen Che Ishak, who had been missing since December. Azreen from Rantau in Negri Sembilan, was also found in Lombok. Husam said that Azreen was now his “adopted daughter” and her family had decided to follow her here.