Child beggars: This beggars belief

by Chamitha Kuruppu

Little Nimali* held her brother closely hiding behind an abandoned lottery box until the Police van disappeared. Although her three-year-old brother - who is too young to discover the true danger of the game they play almost everyday, struggled to untangle himself from his sister's strong hands, Nimali did not move away from their hiding place until she was definite the Police van had left.

Now, dragging her brother she walked, passing the colour-lights, where they usually spend most of the evenings. Nimali's left hand reached a side pocket in her dress. The empty pocket increased her fears. She has failed to keep her promise to her father to bring more money today. She knew the chances of her father believing the 'police van' incident was very slim.

Nimali and her little brother along with some 20,000 street children, go through similar ordeals everyday. Street children are a common sight and are countless in Colombo.

They roam near traffic lights and street corners. Some of these children are with critical illnesses whereas others beg, trying to sell moth balls or some other useful thing. Some child beggars are with their parents and others with siblings. And in most cases, children with adults are not their own offspring, but borrowed, merely to beg for money. Accurate statistics limited

Unfortunately, although there is acknowledgement that the number is substantial and on the increase, accurate statistics about street children is limited. When contacted, several top officials belonging to various authorities, echoed that although problems related to street children were discussed at length, no proper action has been taken so far, to curb the problem.

Child beggars like Nimali and her brother, who are pushed to the streets by their parents to earn a quick buck, are the ones that are in most danger. While being threatened to find 'more money' by their parents who are without a fixed abode and stable income - these innocent children are also compelled to compete with other child beggars with adults who do it as a business.

Ragudesh*, had just turned 13 and never been to school.

But for the last eight years he has been begging to support his mother, his single parent, to nurture his four siblings. "I used to collect Rs.100 - Rs.150 per day. But of late the amount has come down. It's not a safe place for children who beg alone. We are forever threatened by adult beggars who borrow children," says Ragudesh.

Forced to earn

According to him these fake 'child beggars' who are transported in a van, are dropped in the morning at specific 'spots' along with adult beggars who pretend to be their parents. In the evening these children are collected by the same van. "These beggars do not allow us to beg in their territory. I have been beaten by such beggars several times.

And then we get beaten by our parents when we fail to collect enough money," claims Ragudesh.

However, the bitter truth is that both types of these child beggars on the streets are restrained from their right to receive education. They are forced to earn either by their own parents or other parties.

According to the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) only a handful of street children attend schools, and a majority of them are in need of a permanent shelter.

A majority of street children living in Colombo are under the age group of 13, and live on the pavements, bus stands or under the shade of huge trees.

Although, The Compulsory Attendance at Schools Act requires children between the ages of 5 and 14 to attend school, and the Women and Youth Act prohibits all other forms of family employment of children below 14 other than for agricultural work, the number of children getting on to the streets for begging, is on the increase.

Although institutions especially set up to look into matters related to children such as The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) and Probation and Childcare Services Department continue their battle to address the needs of children, they are yet to come up with a sound mechanism to curb issues related to street children. The Probation and Childcare services Department has no current statistics about street children and the last survey conducted by the NCPA on it was done in 2003.

However, according to a senior official attached to the Probation and Childcare

Services Department, over 300 Child Right Promotional Officers are continuously on the lookout for child beggars on the street. "When we come across such children the department takes immediate measures to direct them to Rehabilitation Centres or attend to them according to the needs," the officer pointed out. While admitting that there is incompetence in their service, the officer stressed that the department is 'doing its best with the limited resources it has'.

Reluctant to go to school

The officer also added that although measures were taken for these children to attend schools, they are reluctant to go to school due to illtreatment by the staff and students in such schools. "Teachers and other students either complain that these children smell bad, or are not dressed properly," the officer said.

The Bureau for the Protection of Children and Women of Police too face a lack of staff and resources to conduct proper actions against child beggars. However, the Chief of the Bureau OIC C.I. Balachandra says, when a complaint is made his crew immediately attends to the matter. "After a thorough investigation we take these children to courts and from there if necessary direct them to rehabilitation centres," notes OIC Balachandra.

"These children are forced to beg for money by adults, because within just 15-30 minutes they can easily earn Rs.30 to Rs.40. Actually without a proper action plan and network it's impossible to bring down the number of street children," he points out. However, he stresses that although people claim that some of these children are being drugged and forced to sleep, he has failed to come across such a situation so far.

According to OIC Balachandra there are over 23 rehabilitation centres and orphanages where street children are directed for proper education, vocational training and recreation.

However, when contacted a number of these orphanages claimed that they have not received 'any street children' during the recent past. Little Nimali and Ragudesh have no clear future. They are most likely to remain as beggars until they bid farewell to the world.

It is the responsibility of the country to make sure that these children have a future or at least enjoy their rights to have a shelter and receive an education. It is the duty of everyone to ensure that tomorrow no child is pushed to the streets to beg for money.

*Names have been changed