Human Trafficking in [Kyrgyz Republic] [other countries]Street Children in [Kyrgyz Republic] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Kyrgyz Republic] [other countries] |
Prevalence, Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children In the first
ten years of the 21st Century
- 2000 to 2009
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CAUTION: The following links and accompanying text have been culled
from the web to illuminate the situation in the ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Dire
needs of Central Asia's street children In his military uniform, Aklimomun Esenovich cuts an unlikely
figure as a director of a children's home. But as an employee of the Ministry
of Interior, he is charged with running one of Kyrgyzstan's two
"collection centres", where the
authorities hold children found on the streets for 30 days, before either
reuniting them with their families or sending them to a state orphanage. However, with a budget of one
dollar a day, he is struggling to feed and clothe the children. The centre in
the capital, Bishkek, was designed for 50 boys and girls up to the age of 18
but it often takes in double that number. In the first half of 2006, some 750
children passed through, 200 more than in the same period last year. "The conditions are extremely
poor," he says, pointing to the outside toilet and dilapidated bath
house, where the children only have cold water to wash themselves. "We
have few books, beds that are thirty years old and no transport. ***
ARCHIVES *** www.ecpat.net/A4A_2005/PDF/Europe/Global_Monitoring_Report-KYRGYSTAN.pdf Precise information on the
commercial sexual exploitation of children in Kyrgyzstan is not available,
but some statistics concerning the number of victimised
children have been provided by both non-governmental organisations
(NGOs) and the Government. In its 2002 report to The Committee on the Rights
of the Child (CRC), the Government cited statistics from the Service for
National Security suggesting that 10 per cent of those involved in commercial
sex in Kyrgyzstan are actually children. A survey carried out by the NGO Tais Plus in 2002 corroborated these figures in relation
to street prostitution, indicating that 12 per cent of street sex workers are
underage. In the case of prostitution in saunas and brothels, 21 per cent of
those exploited are underage. A large proportion of Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children (CSEC) victims in the country seem to be street children. UNICEF - The Big Picture U.S.
Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Statistics on the number of working children under the age of 15 in
the Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 CHILDREN - As in previous years, there were
numerous reports of child abandonment due to parents' lack of resources,
which led to larger numbers of children in institutions, foster care, or on
the streets. State orphanages and foster homes also faced a lack of resources
and often were unable to provide proper care. Some children too old to remain
in orphanages were transferred to mental health care facilities, even when
they did not exhibit mental health problems. Many street children left home
because of abusive (8 percent) or alcoholic (10 percent) parents or desperate
economic conditions (75 percent). Government and NGO estimates of the number
of street children nationwide ranged from approximately 2 to 15 thousand,
depending on the time of the year. Approximately 80 percent of street
children were internal migrants. Street children were detained by police and
either sent home (if an address was known) or to a rehabilitation center or
orphanage. The two MVD-maintained rehabilitation centers, one each in Bishkek
and Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) – 3 Nov
2004 [63]. The Committee reiterates its
concern with regard to the increasing number of street children in the State
party and the vulnerable situation they face daily, with many of their rights
not being protected (in particular their social and economic rights) and
being subjected to frequent mistreatment by police officers. It is also
concerned that migrants with no formal residence permits also live in very
precarious housing conditions, without access to basic infrastructure and in
fear of forced eviction. Committee On Rights Of Child Concludes Thirty-Seventh Session - 10 Jan 2004 www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2004/hr4796.doc
The Committee was concerned over
the reports of children being injured as a consequence of existing landmines
on the borders of the State party. The Committee urged the State party
to continue its efforts to achieve a bilateral agreement for the de-mining
and demarcation of the border areas, including the ratification and full
implementation of the Ottawa Convention on Anti-Personnel Landmines.
The Committee was concerned with the high level of dropout rates in schools,
especially among girls, due to forced marriages. It was also concerned
about the increasing practice of requesting parents to pay unofficial monthly
and/or one-time enrolment fees, as well as to pay for textbooks and school
repairs, which constituted obstacles for children to access educational
institutes. The Committee remained concerned about certain practices
that did not allow for persons under 18 to have
their own documentation and with reports that in some cases asylum-seekers
were not being allowed to register their claims for refugee status because of
their ethnic background. UNICEF
Executive Director visits Kyrgyzstan www.unicef.org/media/media_45973.html
Veneman visited the Rehabilitation Center
for Street Children in Bishkek, the capital of the Kyrgyz Republic, which
provides shelter for approximately 70 children. “Many of the children at the Center are
from homes where domestic violence was a daily event, or where alcoholism and
social and economic problems left families unable to cope or to care properly
for their children,” said Veneman. “These
children have been robbed of their childhood by the people who are meant to
love them the most.” Over 50 per cent of babies aged
6-24 months are anemic and approximately 13.7 per cent of the nation’s
under-fives suffer from stunted growth in the Kyrgyz Republic. This is
mainly due to micronutrient deficiencies. Dire
needs of Central Asia's street children In his military uniform, Aklimomun Esenovich cuts an
unlikely figure as a director of a children's home. But as an employee of the
Ministry of Interior, he is charged with running one of Kyrgyzstan's two
"collection centres", where the
authorities hold children found on the streets for 30 days, before either
reuniting them with their families or sending them to a state orphanage. However, with a budget of one
dollar a day, he is struggling to feed and clothe the children. The centre in
the capital, Bishkek, was designed for 50 boys and girls up to the age of 18
but it often takes in double that number. In the first half of 2006, some 750
children passed through, 200 more than in the same period last year. "The conditions are extremely
poor," he says, pointing to the outside toilet and dilapidated bath
house, where the children only have cold water to wash themselves. "We
have few books, beds that are thirty years old and no transport. CRC Completed Review Of Initial Report Of The Kyrgyz
Republic www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/0/021AA9FFBE8644E0802568E9002C02BA?opendocument DISCUSSION - Work by the estimated 160
street children in the country was a concern; authorities tried to return
them to school, but in fact it was hard to assist such children. A center was
being constructed for the rehabilitation of street children with financial help
from Today in Osh,
a city near the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border, there are thought to be between 600 and
1,500 street children out of a population of roughly 500,000. The term street
children can be used to describe not just those who are homeless but also
those who sometimes live with their family but also work on the streets. I travelled to bazaars in both Bishkek and Osh and saw children cleaning shoes or selling goods such
as cigarettes or bread. Some were sitting behind scales to weigh people, and
there were many young porters pushing trolleys of goods. A number of children
were begging on the streets. The average age of working children is between
10 and 14 years old. Focus On Street Children In Bishkek www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=14829 www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=9234&SelectRegion=Central_Asia The fact is that many of the
children on the street today are working to support their families, because
their parents’ income no longer suffices.
Many work as porters, or sell newspapers, flowers or candy, or wash
cars in the streets. There have also been incidences of child
prostitution. Other children on the
street, however, are there purely due to parental neglect or, in some cases,
abandonment. The United Nations in Kyrgyzstan dev.un.org.kg/english/unlink.phtml?198#5 AUGUST 08, 2003 TRAINING SEMINAR “SOCIAL INTEGRATION
OF HOMELESS, WORKING AND STREET CHILDREN” TAKES PLACE ON 5 – 14 - One of the serious consequences
of the hard social-economic situation in Kyrgyzstan is an enormous growth of the
number of uncared and neglected street children, who cannot afford sufficient
food, education and whose life is often endangered by AIDS, drug abuse,
sexual violence, exploitation and discrimination. Ralph Fiennes’ visit to Kyrgyzstan - October 2003 His father was drunk, had beaten
up the mother, destroyed the home. Andrey had run
away and was living the wild migrant gypsy existence on the streets.
Eventually, the young people from the center took Andrey back to his mother.
And this woman, confronted with her son, was clearly wounded and bereft, and
at a loss as to how to take care of him. She let him go to an orphanage
rather than taking him back. Now he’s back on the street. His parents, he said, had tried to
put him into an orphanage in his home village, complaining that they couldn't
afford to look after him. When he had been refused, they tried to palm him
off at the local police station but were turned away again. At this point, Slava says, his mother and
father just abandoned him before leaving for Childhood
Poverty Research and Policy Center - Country Overviews KYRGYZSTAN - Growing poverty has also led to children working in a range of jobs, from working on family farms, to agricultural labor for others, domestic service, selling or working as porters at markets. Recent research estimate that approximately 24 per cent of children work either full or part time, similarly since transition there are now homeless or 'street' children in Kyrgyzstan's cities, and some reports of child prostitution and trafficking. V.
Family Environment And Alternative Care [DOC] PARAGRAPH 153 - There are 600-800 street children
in Bishkek. The main reasons are
alcoholism of parents, poverty, abuse and home violence. Street children are excluded from
education. They work at bazaars,
petrol stations or commit petty theft, pocket stealing, car
robbery, quite often they are doing it under leadership of adults. They are often arrested by militia, beaten
and humiliated, have to give bribes to get
free. Many street children live in the
town heating systems, abandoned buildings, etc. In some towns (Bishkek, Kara-Balta) the
shelters run by NGOs for such children can accept only a limited number of
children. Rights
of the Child in Kyrgyzstan [DOC] KYRGYZSTAN - Growing poverty has also led to children working in a range of jobs, from working on family farms, to agricultural labor for others, domestic service, selling or working as porters at markets. Recent research estimate that approximately 24 per cent of children work either full or part time, similarly since transition there are now homeless or 'street' children in Kyrgyzstan's cities, and some reports of child prostitution and trafficking. A
Generation at Risk - Children of Kazakstan and Kyrgyzstan Children in The United Nations (UN) in Kyrgyzstan dev.un.org.kg/english/unlink.phtml?223#2 RECENTLY APPOINTED UNICEF REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR CEE/CIS/BALTIC, MS. MARIA CALIVIS VISITS KYRGYZSTAN - Majority of these children do not go to school – as is it far away, they need to travel by bus. But not all the families can afford it. Ms Calivis raised this issue at the meeting with the high officials of the country. As she said, the state is responsible for providing these children with learning opportunities. www.alpinefund.org/wework/facts.htm At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] NUMBER OF
CHILDREN LIVING IN INSTITUTIONS - The majority are social orphans, children who have families, but
whose families lack the support systems needed to keep them in their
homes. Social orphans may include
children from families that are financially struggling, physically abusive,
or using drugs and alcohol. NUMBER OF STREET CHILDREN IN
BISHKEK - The
"street children", or homeless children, in Bishkek most often live
in abandoned buildings, at the bazaars and nearly all beg on the streets.
Some of these children are biological or social orphans, and many have fled
or been forced to leave their homes or institutions All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE
RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT ARTICLES.
Cite this webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin,
"Street Children – |
Human Trafficking in [Kyrgyz Republic] [other countries]Street Children in [Kyrgyz Republic] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Kyrgyz Republic] [other countries]