MALANG: EAST JAVA'S UNIVERSITY CITY AND EPICENTER OF HUMAN

UNCLAS SURABAYA 000033 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/MTS, EAP/GTIP, EAP/RSP, EAP/PD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON PHUM PGOV ELAB KWMN SMIG KPAO ID SUBJECT: MALANG: EAST JAVA'S UNIVERSITY CITY AND EPICENTER OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. ¶1. (SBU) During an August 30-31 visit to Malang, Principal Officer spoke with educators and civil society leaders about the duality of this East Javanese city: a city famous for both education and growing poverty that has made Malang's citizens easy targets for traffickers. Malang hosts two state universities and dozens of private universities, with university students accounting for 25% of Malang's 800,000 residents. Malang also hosts one of Indonesia's best known pesantrens aimed at university students: Pesantren Al-Hikam. Established in the 1990s by Kiai Hasyim Muzadi, the national chairman of NU, Pesantren Al-Hikam aims to produce Muslim scholars with knowledge of both Islamic teachings and science. All of the pesantren's 200 students are also studying at Malang universities. Muhammad Nafik, Kiai Hasyim Muzadi's nephew-in-law who runs the pesantren, explained that the pesantren's overarching objective was to produce men of tolerance, understanding, and good moral character - men who would enter the workforce as professionals and contribute to society at all levels of government, business, civic society, and education. ¶2. (SBU) Visits to two of Malang's largest universities offered insights into the concerns of educators and students. At both Muhammadiyah University and Brawijaya University, faculty members asked pointed questions about opportunities for greater cooperation with U.S. universities and increased access to U.S. government exchange and speaker's programs to strengthen their curriculum. Brawijaya's faculty complained that cooperation with Louisiana State University on a cattle breeding program and with the University of Kentucky on curriculum development had been stalled by security concerns from the American partners and the USG travel advisory for Indonesia. They also requested assignment of an English Language Fellow to Brawijaya to improve English language teaching. Muhammadiyah has benefited the most from USG programs, hosting both an American Corner and an English Language Fellow. ¶3. (SBU) In contrast to the optimistic, forward-looking perspective provided at both the universities and the pesantren, NGO contacts focused on local economic circumstances that had turned Malang into a major source of East Java's trafficking problems and increased corruption. Indeed, the number of NGOs focused on trafficking and violence against women and children exceeds the number of universities. The poverty rate stands at 30%, with the poorest areas located south of Malang. The impact of the Sidoarjo mud flow on tourism and transportation is putting increasing pressure on the local economy. According to the NGOs, men are being enticed to work illegally in mines and construction sites, while women and children are being lured into the sex trade. The NGOs agreed that the Regent of the area had been supportive of their efforts, while the Mayor of Malang refused to admit that a problem exists. ¶4. (SBU) The activists are taking their message directly to the villages and to legal authorities. Ibu Sutiah, director of Lembaga Pengkajian Kemasyarakatan dan Pembangunan (Study Center for Society and Development, LPKP),a Malanag NGO focused on the protection of women and children, explained that LPKP was working in 16 villages to educate families and village leaders about trafficking. LPKP runs a small training center for women and children to increase their job skills. Similarly, Ibu Wahyu, a lecturer at the Brawijaya University School of Law and an activist, explained her organization's efforts to educate prosecutors, judges, and police about new laws against trafficking. Each expressed guarded optimism that their actions would see tangible results, encouraged by the receptiveness of some civic leaders. MCCLELLAND