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
early years of the 21st Century - 2000 to 2010 gvnet.com/streetchildren/KyrgyzRepublic.htm
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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 *** V.
Family Environment And Alternative Care [DOC] Committee on the Rights of the Child CRC -- NGO Commentaries
to the Initial Report of the Kyrgyz Republic on the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, January 03, 2000 www.crin.org/docs/resources/treaties/crc.24/kyrgystanNGOreport.doc [accessed 12 June 2011] [page 13] g) CHILDREN DEPRIVED OF
FAMILY ENVIRONMENT - 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. Dire needs of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies IFRC, 19 February 2007 [accessed 10 June 2011] 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 *** ECPAT Global Monitoring Report on the status of action
against commercial exploitation of children - KYRGYZSTAN [PDF] ECPAT International, 2008 www.ecpat.net/A4A_2005/PDF/Europe/Global_Monitoring_Report-KYRGYSTAN.pdf [accessed 10 June 2011] Precise information on the
commercial sexual exploitation of children in UNICEF – www.unicef.org/infobycountry/kyrgyzstan.html [accessed 10 June 2011] The Department of Labor’s 2004
Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/kyrgyz-republic.htm [accessed 29 November 2010] INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Statistics on the number of working children under the age of 15 in
the Human Rights Reports » 2005
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61657.htm [accessed 17 February 2011] 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) UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1 October 2004 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/kyrgyzstan2004.html [accessed 17 February 2011] [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 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2004/hr4796.doc [accessed 10 June 2011] 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. Many parents hope for the government to solve their
problem with children Aizada Kutueva,
24.Kg News Agency, Bishkek, 28/10-2010 eng.24.kg/community/2010/10/28/14516.html [accessed 10 June 2011] “There are many parents trying to
solve their problems by giving children in the care of the state,” Aleksey Petrushevsky, the Head of the Rehabilitation Centre for
street children, said at a news conference on 28 October. According to him, the authority of the
family falls down. “As a result, more and more children had to live in closed
institutions that badly affect their development.” UNICEF Executive Director visits Kyrgyzstan United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF, Bishkek, 16 October
2008 www.unicef.org/media/media_45973.html [accessed 10 June 2011] Veneman visited the 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 International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies IFRC, 19 February 2007 [accessed 10 June 2011] 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 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 23 May 2000 www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/0/021AA9FFBE8644E0802568E9002C02BA?opendocument [accessed 10 June 2011] DISCUSSION - Children were used on occasion
for seasonal agricultural work, although the State discouraged the practice,
the delegation said, especially when it interfered with school attendance. A
human-rights activist regularly protested the use of child labour in tobacco
harvesting, and the Government was aware of the problem, but identifying
every case of the practice, especially in the southern regions of the
country, was difficult. Each case reported was referred to local authorities.
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 centre was being constructed for the rehabilitation of
street children with financial help from Children of David Levene, The Guardian,
April 2006 www.guardian.co.uk/flash/page/0,,1756789,00.html [accessed 10 June 2011] Today in Focus On Street Children In Bishkek UN Integrated Regional Information Networks IRIN, Bishkek,
6 July 2001 www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=14829 [accessed 10 June 2011] 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 dev.un.org.kg/english/unlink.phtml?198#5 [Last access date unavailable] 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. The United Nations in dev.un.org.kg/english/unlink.phtml?223#2 Last access date unavailable] 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. Ralph Fiennes’ visit to United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF, 6th October 2003 ralphfiennes-corner.net/index.php?id=22 [accessed 10 June 2011] 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 Ulugbek Babakulov
- iwpr.net/report-news/kyrgyzstan-children-nowhere-go [accessed 12 June 2011] 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 Country
Overviews Childhood Poverty Research and www.childhoodpoverty.org/index.php?action=countryo#25 [accessed 12 June 2011] V.
Family Environment And Alternative Care [DOC] Committee on the Rights of the Child CRC -- NGO Commentaries
to the Initial Report of the Kyrgyz Republic on the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, January 03, 2000 www.crin.org/docs/resources/treaties/crc.24/kyrgystanNGOreport.doc [accessed 12 June 2011] [page 13] g) CHILDREN DEPRIVED OF
FAMILY ENVIRONMENT - 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. A
Generation at Risk - Children of Kazakstan and Asian Development Bank ADB, April 1998 -- ISBN:
971-561-097-8 www.adb.org/Documents/Books/Generation_at_Risk/default.asp [accessed 12 June 2011] Children in Alpine Fund At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 12 June 2011] 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. Rights of
the Child in Ramazan Dyryldaev
and Séverine Jacomy, The
Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights -- A report prepared for the Committee on
the Rights of Child, Geneva, February 2004 www.crin.org/docs/resources/treaties/crc.37/Kyrgyzstan_OMCT_ngo_report.doc [accessed 12 June 2011] 5d.
CHILDREN LIVING ON THE STREETS - According to the official report of the Government programme "Zhany Muun", in 2003 more than 20,000 children of school
age were not attending school. Unofficial estimates exceed 250,000. At any
Kyrgyz market place one can witness out-of-school children selling
merchandise or offering to carry buyers' bags for a small amount of money, or
just begging or stealing. Out of those, in Bishkek alone, between 500 and
5000 children are said to be living on the streets. There are also reportedly more and
more children who have become main providers for their families by living and
working in the streets in the province, especially in Through the NGO network on Child
Abuse and Neglect in Some shelters have been opened in
Bishkek and in several regions, where children can get medical help and
psychological rehabilitation. Hospitals and services delivered by doctors for
the poor and vulnerable, in the main, are of low quality and, in some cases,
charged for. At present, except for Bishkek, there are no educational
programs giving advice on safer sex or drug use while there is increasing
number of HIV/AIDS cases among children and teenagers. IWPR also documented the lack of
services and coherent protection policy for street children in the southern
Kyrgyz town 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 [Kyrgyz Republic] [other countries]Street Children in [Kyrgyz Republic] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Kyrgyz Republic] [other countries]