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

Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan)                                                [ Country-by-Country Reports ]

The Kyrgyz Republic [map] is located in central Asia, bordering on China (SE), Kazakhstan (N), Uzbekistan (W), and on Tajikistan (SW).  Bishkek, the capital, and Osh are the chief cities.  After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Kyrgyz Republic entered a period of social, political and economic transition making life especially difficult for women and children.

 

CAUTION:  The following links and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in the Kyrgyz Republic.  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.

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 Kyrgyz Republic are unavailable.  However, the government estimated that 2,000 to 15,000 neglected children were living and working on the streets nationwide, depending on the time of year.  Children work selling goods (such as newspapers, cigarettes and candy), in transportation, loading and unloading goods, collecting aluminum and bottles, begging, cleaning and repairing shoes, washing cars, and selling narcotics.

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 Osh, were in poor condition and lacked sufficient food, clothes, and medicine.

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

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

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 Norway. The number of street children had declined significantly from four or five years ago.

Children of Kyrgyzstan

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

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

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.

Children with Nowhere to Go

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 Russia with his youngest sister.

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 Central Asia are currently experiencing an enormous rift in what were once constants in their everyday lives. In spite of the high regard for them in the Central Asian societies, the transition has had devastating effects on many families. Children bear much of the social costs of this transition period and are at risk of losing the ability to realize their own development potential.

The United Nations (UN) in Kyrgyzstan

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.

Kyrgyzstan Facts

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

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Human Trafficking in  [Kyrgyz Republic]  [other countries]
Street Children in  [Kyrgyz Republic]  [other countries]
Child Prostitution in  [Kyrgyz Republic]  [other countries]