JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — An Indonesian official is vowing to do more to combat human trafficking after an investigation by The Associated Press revealed that scores of trafficked girls have quietly disappeared from one of the nation's poorest regions.
The vice governor of East Nusa Tenggara province, Josef Nae Soi, says officials will work with police to try to find the missing girls cited in the AP's report. He says officials are strengthening checks at airports and seaports to block attempts by traffickers to smuggle migrant workers abroad.
Soi's comments on Friday came one day after the AP's report revealed that possibly hundreds of teenage girls have vanished from East Nusa Tenggara after falling prey to illegal recruiters promising work in Malaysia.
