Human Trafficking in [Kazakhstan] [other countries]
Street Children in [Kazakhstan] [other countries]
Child Prostitution in [Kazakhstan] [other countries]
 

Prevalence, Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children

Kazakhstan [ Country-by-Country Reports ]

Kazakhstan [map] is the second largest of the former Soviet Union republics, measuring 2,000 kilometers, east to west, and 1,200 kilometers, north to south. It is bordered by the Russian Federation (N & W), by Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan (S), and by China (E). Kazakhstan enjoyed double-digit growth in 2000-01 - and a solid 9.5% in 2002 - thanks largely to its booming energy sector, but also to economic reform, good harvests, and foreign investment. Growth remained at the high 9% level in 2003 and 2004. The opening of the Caspian Consortium pipeline in 2001, from western Kazakhstan's Tengiz oilfield to the Black Sea, substantially raised export capacity. The country has embarked upon an industrial policy designed to diversify the economy away from over dependence on the oil sector, by developing light industry. Additionally, the policy aims to reduce the influence of foreign investment and foreign personnel.

CAUTION:  The following links and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Kazakhstan. Some of these links may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false.  No attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content.

Quick Search for Missing Children - Select Gender, Country (Kazakhstan), and Years Missing

UNICEF - The Big Picture

U.S. Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs

INCIDENCE AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Children continue to be found begging, loading freight, delivering goods in markets, washing cars, and working at gas stations. Reports also indicate a rise in the number of children engaged in commercial sexual exploitation, pornography and drug trafficking in urban areas.

Bur of Democracy, Human Rights & Labor - Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005

CHILDREN - Education is mandatory through age 16, or the ninth grade; elementary schooling generally begins at age 6. Primary and secondary education was both free and universal. The law provides for equal access to education by both boys and girls. According to Ministry of Education figures, enrollment for the year was estimated at over 98 percent of school-aged children.

The law provides for access to public education for refugee and illegal migrant children. In some cases, these children were denied access to schools or their parents did not attempt to enroll them out of fear of discovery and deportation.

The government has temporary detention shelters for homeless minors until they can be returned to their parents or more permanently placed.

Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2003

[74] The Committee is extremely concerned at: (a) The increasing number of street children and inappropriate policies and programmes implemented by the juvenile affairs services to address this situation; (b) The inappropriateness of the preventive measures and at the keeping of a special database on information on these children being considered as social assistance with a view to preventing abandonment and criminality; (c) The vulnerability of street children to, inter alia, sexual abuse, violence, including from the police, exploitation, exclusion from education, substance abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS and malnutrition.

Kazakhstan - Reports to Treaty Bodies - Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

Other areas of concern included the following: the general lack of comprehensive information on the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code; the lack of effective measures to reduce and eliminate child labor; the growing involvement of children in the sex industry and the apparent indifference of society towards the issue of child prostitution; the lack of specialized centers to provide services, including psychotherapeutic assistance, as well as recovery and reintegration programs for child victims of sexual violence; the increasing number of street children and the inappropriate policies and programs to address this situation.

Child Kazakhstan Waiting

KAZAKHSTAN - The minimum age for employment is 14 years, but only for part-time work (5 hours a day) that is not physically onerous. A child between the ages of 14 and 16 may work only with the permission of his or her parents. Education is compulsory to age 16, and the law stipulates harsh punishment for employers who exploit children under this age.

Monitoring Initiative School Drop-Out Analysis [DOC]

Drop-out is a problem in Kazakhstan that is barely noticed. According to official statistics only 0.2% of the schoolchildren drop out. Thus it is not considered on the national level and it is not a topic for broad discussion. The real problem, since independence, are the new groups of “at risk” children like street children, children from disadvantaged families and “oralmans” (Kazakh families repatriated from China, Iran, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, etc), and orphans.

Summary Of Fact-Finding Mission To Kazakhstan

Young drug users and children of drug users have the most difficulty coping. Children of arrested parents either go to a relative’s home or to the children’s distribution center. (Ref. 10) The drug treatment clinic Teen Challenge Kazakhstan tries to help children by creating a drug-free environment with absolutely no police involvement. The facility is maximum security, not to keep the "students" in, but to keep out drug dealers and the police who try to arrest students. The facility is uniquely known in the country for its confidentiality and lack of corruption.

Community Heroes Rescue Families

Nestled in a rural village of southern Kazakhstan, approximately 5,000 men, women and children live a hand-to-mouth existence. Closed factories contribute to high unemployment. Some survive through farming, making the equivalent to $20 per month. A MedEx Kit was given to the Enbekshy Church, and a midwife, an excited woman named Kumesi, will oversee the program in this village where 70 percent of 1,500 persons are unemployed and there are more than 20 street children.

Letter to the E.U. General Affairs Council

Kazakhstan is also home to one of the fastest-growing AIDS epidemics in the world, threatening the country’s economic and social development. Severe human rights abuses, including systematic police brutality against drug users, sex workers, street children and others most vulnerable to the infection are fueling the spread of the disease.

Juvenile Justice in Kazakhstan [PDF]

2. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS - In the case of Kazakhstan, the phenomenon of juvenile delinquency is attributed to the transition to a market economy and the dissolution of prior social structures of Soviet times, which resulted in increased economic pressure and strain on families. Thus, an increased number of children is at risk, such as children coming out of orphanages, children form broken families with violence and substance abuse, and children who must support themselves and their families.

Human Trafficking in [Kazakhstan] [other countries]
Street Children in [Kazakhstan] [other countries]
Child Prostitution in [Kazakhstan] [other countries]