The Jakarta Social Agency has classified waria, or transgender women, as people with social dysfunctional traits, which has led to many waria being rounded up and sent to rehabilitation centers.

The agency's head of rehabilitation affairs, Chaidir, told The Jakarta Post that the agency regularly conducted raids against transgender women. “Soon after we have a waria admitted to a social house, we will notify her family or her community to organize her release,” he said.

Families of the detained waria must meet all administrative requirements to secure their release, Chaidir added, which consisted primarily of an official letter verifying the waria's place of residence to prove that she was not homeless.

If she came from outside Jakarta, the agency would notify the social agency of the province where she was registered, he said. The move was intended, Chaidir explained, “to create a deterrent effect, so that [the province] will know that one of their residents has become Jakarta’s social problem”.

Last week in West Jakarta, Duri Kosambi subdistrict head Irwansyah Alam hindered a mother’s attempt to secure the release of her detained transgender daughter from city-owned rehabilitation center Bina Insan Bangun Daya in Kedoya. Read more via Jakarta Post