Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward to you the following press release from the Roshni Help Line.
Asian Human Rights Commission
Hong Kong
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A Press Release from the Roshni Help Line forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
January 18, 2011
PRESS RELEASE
“Missing is a step that happens first and then all crimes i.e. physical, sexual exploitation and abuse, forced labor and sexual abused and murder of children are committed after that, so missing of children should be taken seriously, I think missing itself should be considered a crime,”
Muhammad Ali, President Roshni Helpline
Approximately 3090 children were reported missing to about 100 police stations in 18 towns of Karachi city during past one year, from January-to-December 2010, according to the annual report on missing children released here on Monday by the child and women rights NGO, Roshni Helpline.
On average, about two-and-half cases had been reported to each police station every month over the course of past year. These include both boys and girls. “If a child goes out of contact of the family or guardians, we define him or her a missing child,” said Muhammad Ali, President Roshni Helpline. “Everyone below the age of 18 is internationally defined as a child.”
Out of the total missing 80 % (2472) were boys and 20 % (618) were girls. Out of these a large portion 78% of the children belonged to the age group of 12 and 18, while remaining 22% associated to the age group below 12 years. About 34% of missing children were studying in both formal schools and Madrassas, 30% were only the students of Madrassas while remaining 26% children were the drop out of a school or Madrassa.
These cases included the clients of Roshni Helpline. In many cases families/parents reported missing of their children first to the Helpline, who were guided and helped to lodge their cases in the police stations that fall within the jurisdictions of their localities. The Roshni Helpline accepts cases of missing children, either reported by the clients physically or over phone. However, these cases do no include those that are monitored and scanned from the newspapers.
The rate of recovery of missing children remains to 2%. A majority of cases reported recovered are the cases of delayed recovery. In some cases children are recovered after a month or above. ‘One of the reasons behind less recovery or delayed recovery is that parents and families do not follow the path that is reporting of the cases timely to police,” said M. Ali. ‘They instead fall into prey of fake aamils and peers who make them run to different directions because of their calculations based on fake istikharas and aamlaat. In many cases when police called these aamils/peers to police stations they vanish quickly.”
Cases announced through community Mosques
The cases of missing children reported to police are separate from the cases that are announced from mosques through out the city. Roshni Helpline collected data from 15 mosques from each town, totaling 270 mosques overall. On average 2 announcements were made from every mosque every month. A total 24 cases of missing children from each mosques each year, which makes the total number of missing children at 6480, which announced through the loudspeakers of 270 mosques from January to December 2010.
The parity between the cases reported to police stations and reported in Mosques shows that a very small number of cases are reported to police stations. Although there had been remarkable improvement in the attitude of police, according to RH’s working experience, many families reported that some police personnel were found reluctant to lodge an FIR of missing children. However, many cases showed neglect on part of parents especially in the cases in which a child is a runaway case. “A child who goes out of contact of his/her home/family on will after a quarrel or for any other reason is called a runaway child,” said Ali. “In such cases parents/family are reluctant to go to police because of the fear that police would come to know about actual reasons behind missing of their child.”
On average, a family starts looking for their child in the evening after they find that the child who slipped out of their contact sometime during the day did not turn even after sunset. “This is the time they run from pillar to post to find their child,” RH’s president said. “In many cases a considerable amount of time is lost, and there is fear that the child if he/she had been kidnapped might have been transported/shifted from the area of his residence. Then there is a less chance and hope of tracing him/her immediately.” In normal circumstances a case is reported to police after lapse of approximately 48 hours since missing of child, because to RH’s experience, most of families spend while searching the child in nearby localities, either through announcements from loudspeakers amounted vehicles or mosques.
Lost or kidnapped
A majority of the cases reported to police are lodged in Roznamcha — the daily diary. Thus they fall into non-cognizable (NC) offences. “All the case logged in Roznamcha or daily diary are called NC reports that are referred as Kachi FIR. No Investigation Officer is appointed and no action is taken unless and until FIR of case is registered under cognizable offence, referred as Pakki FIR,” Mr. Ali explained. An escape or excuse is provided to police for not taking action by registration of cases under NC. A sizeable majority of cases is always of kidnapping. However, since parents and families do not know the legal point of view, they report their child as missing. The police log the case in the daily diary and send off the parents with an advice for keep searching their child and with a hope they will manage to find him or her. A proper or Pakki FIR is not lodged unless and until the family or parents told police that an unknown person/s have kidnapped their child for unknown reasons.
An Investigation Officer is appointed there and then and investigation starts straightaway. There is hope then for recovery of the missing child, the RH president added.
High Alert Areas
The magnitude of problems that the cities like Karachi face makes the whole city a high alert area for children. However, there are areas where more cases of missing of children are reported than other areas. According to the data collected, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Baldia and Korangi Towns were high alert areas for children in 2010. For example, Baldia Town has three police stations and in one year over 100 cases had been reported. In Gulshan-e-Iqbal, which has 8 police stations, a total 300 cases were reported over the span of 12 months. Korangi Town is another high alert town where a total 144 cases were reported in three police stations in a year.
Reasons for missing/kidnapping of children
According to the RH’s assessment a majority of children’s running away from home is because poverty, physical, sexual and emotional violence at home and in schools or Madrassas and the economic and financial constraints faced by the family.
The data has substantiated this information by telling that 80% of either missing or runaway children belonged to the middle or lower socio-economic structure of the society. A majority of these cases were reported from middle or low-income areas of Karachi such as, Korangi Town, Landhi Town, Orangi Town, Baldia Town and Lyari Town. It is informative to note that often children fulfill their own desires, e.g. live independently, or ambitions, run away from home and ended up on the streets of the city or become part of any criminal group.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) outlines the fundamental rights of children, including the right to be protected from economic exploitation and harmful work, from all forms of sexual exploitation and abuse, and from physical or mental violence, as well as ensuring that children will not be separated from their family against their will. Two Optional Protocols further define these rights; one on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and the other on the involvement of children in armed conflict. Another major factor behind missing of children is the lack of awareness of parents as to how to deal with children especially disabled children.
The literature review divulged that what precisely is understood by “missing children” is an important challenge. Definitions of ‘missing’ range from any period of unauthorized absence from the parent/guardian, to remaining unaccounted for an extended time period that gives rise for concern for the safety of the child. Missing children are firstly taken to include those that due to various factors runaway from home against the wishes of and without informing their parents of their decision.
By categorizing this, and using the words of a local police officer, we can say that, “missing children include those children who due to their tender age become lost and can not find their way home. For example, a mentally disabled child or a grade two student who goes out of the house to play or just walk may go beyond to his residential area and eventually forgetting his way home.” Furthermore, kidnapped children are those who are taken against their will by an individual or criminal group of child traffickers trying to use the children in bonded labor, begging or any other way through which they can make money.
The problem of missing children is largely dependent on the definition of ‘missing’ in use. A discussion with the officials of police in Karachi raised the need for continued awareness and understanding among those responsible, for the protection and development of services for children in this country
Cases of serious nature
A majority of cases of missing children who are not recovered and considered as kidnapped cases could not be traced back to reasons why these children were picked up. However, according to the RH’s assessment based on interviews of its clients or police and media reports, children are picked up for crimes of serious nature with them. This can be exploitation, both physical and sexual such as prostitution, for use of beggary purpose or sexual abuse and murder.
“Children, both boys and girls, aged between 3 and 5 years, are most likely to be picked up by beggary mafia for use of these innocents for beggary purpose,” said M. Ali. “They are most likely to picked up and quickly shifted to other areas by professional beggars. They change the getup of children or even make them handicapped and use them for beggary. In exceptional cases, children above 5 and 7 can also be picked up by beggars.”
Children above this age can be met different ends. For example sexual abuse and murder etc. “Missing is a step that happens first then all crimes i.e. physical, sexual exploitation and abuse, forced labor and sexual abused and murder etc are committed with children after that. Therefore, we need to take missing of children seriously,” Muhammad Ali, President Roshni Helpline.
Issued by Roshni Helpline
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About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation that monitors human rights in Asia, documents violations and advocates for justice and institutional reform to ensure the protection and promotion of these rights. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.
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