Human Trafficking in [Lebanon] [other countries]Street Children in [Lebanon Child Prostitution in [Lebanon] [other countries] |
Prevalence, Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children In the early
years of the 21st Century - 2000 to 2010 gvnet.com/streetchildren/Lebanon.htm
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CAUTION: The following links and accompanying text have been culled
from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Street children becoming a new problem on Deutsche Presse-Agentur (German
Press Agency) DPA, This article has been archived by World Street Children
News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 20 September 2011] Street children are becoming a
common sight in Zeina, with her green eyes, taps on a
car window wither dirty little hands, begging to sell her chewing gum before
nightfall. "So please buy one, I have to sell them all in order to buy
bread for my family," Zeina pleads, with tears
in her eyes. The little blonde girl
said she has mainly lived on the streets since she was eight to help her
family survive. "I have been
begging, selling roses, chewing gum, or washing windows since I was
eight," she said. "My father left us because my mother got
sick." ***
ARCHIVES *** UNICEF –
Lebanon www.unicef.org/infobycountry/lebanon.html [accessed 13 June 2011] The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on the Worst Forms
of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/lebanon.htm [accessed 17 February 2011] INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - It is common for children to earn family income by working in the
fields or begging in the streets. Non-Lebanese
children constitute 10 to 20 percent of children working in the formal
sector, but make up a larger share of children working on the street. Human Rights Reports » 2005
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61693.htm [accessed 17 February 2011] SECTION 6
WORKER RIGHTS – [d]
In December 2004 the MOL completed a study on working street children, which provided a
snapshot of the condition and nature of street
children in the country. The report showed that the average street child was a boy (9 percent
were girls), foreign (only 15 percent were citizens, the others were most
often Palestinian and Syrian), 12 years of age, and poorly educated or
illiterate. Street children
were concentrated in large urban centers where approximately 47 percent of
them were forced to work long hours on the streets by adults. The most common
types of work were selling goods, including lottery tickets, shoe polishing,
and washing car windshields. The children earned between $2 and $15 (3
thousand to 25 thousand pounds) per day. Only 19 percent of the children
interviewed said they kept their income. Street children becoming a new problem on Deutsche Presse-Agentur (German
Press Agency) DPA, This article has been archived by World Street Children
News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 20 September 2011] Street children are becoming a
common sight in Zeina, with her green eyes, taps on a
car window wither dirty little hands, begging to sell her chewing gum before
nightfall. "So please buy one, I have to sell them all in order to buy
bread for my family," Zeina pleads, with tears
in her eyes. The little blonde girl
said she has mainly lived on the streets since she was eight to help her
family survive. "I have been
begging, selling roses, chewing gum, or washing windows since I was
eight," she said. "My father left us because my mother got
sick." UN Integrated Regional Information Networks IRIN, www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73288 [accessed 13 June 2011] Abdullah lives like no eight
year-old-boy should. Two years ago, the youngster from Raqqa,
a town in the north of Syria on the banks of the River Euphrates, travelled to Lebanon with his three brothers, looking for
work. Today, Abdullah lives with
around 20 other workers in a ramshackle encampment on a patch of wasteland in
Lailaki, a poor suburb of south Beirut. By night, the boy picks through the city’s
rubbish, hoping to find objects of value.
By day, instead of going to school, Abdullah sorts through his
discoveries with his “boss”, an aggressive middle-aged woman who claims to own
the camp and who, Abdullah says, beats the children if they do not make her
enough money. A few hours sleep in a
filthy, cramped tent with no heat or running water and a bowl of rice is his
reward. Eter estimated Lebanon has as many as
5,000 street children, 80 percent of them foreigners mainly from Syria,
Jordan, Iraq or the Palestinian territories, who carry no identification
papers and who therefore cannot attend state school and can be arrested any
time. UN Integrated Regional Information Networks IRIN, news.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=27096 [accessed 13 June 2011] In Samir is only 12 years old, but living
on the streets has made him grow up quickly. Palestinian of origin, his story
is a sad –but all too common – one. “I’ve been begging since I was eight,” he
said. “My mother left when I was five, and now my father beats me and makes
me beg for money.” Information about Street Children - This report is taken from “A Civil Society Forum for North
Africa and the Middle East on Promoting and Protecting the Rights of Street
Children”, 3-6 March 2004, At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 13 June 2011] Most children on the streets spend
their days selling trinkets or begging for their parents/other family members
before returning home at night. However, there is a small number for whom the
street is their permanent residence, and these are usually children who have
suffered emotional and/or physical abuse within their families due to
poverty, overcrowding, or family disintegration. LEISWAD Home of Hope Mennonite Central Committee, Global Family Program
stories, July 2005 At one time this article had been archived and may possibly
still be accessible [here] [accessed 13 June 2011] Mohammed, 15, came to Home of Hope
about three years ago from the streets of the Rauche
section of 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 [Lebanon] [other countries]Street Children in [Lebanon Child Prostitution in [Lebanon] [other countries]