|
KARACHI: An NGO representative has gone to court,
asking it to tell the police to ‘arrest’ children
found unprotected out on the road at night and take
them to the Remand Home in Karachi.
Syed
Iqbal Kazmi of the Human Rights Commission for South
Asia (HRCSA) moved a petition, which was heard on
Tuesday by a division bench of the Sindh High Court,
comprising Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Imam Bux
Baloch.
Quoting
figures from a survey conducted by the NGO, Kazmi
maintained there are around 32,500 street children
in Karachi alone. Out of these, 17,000 spend the
night outside as well. Around 12 to 20 such children
are added to this figure every day because young
boys and girls from all over Pakistan come to
Karachi, seeking work, refuge or freedom.
Street
children are exposed to sexual harassment and many
of them are forced into prostitution, said the
petitioner, supporting his argument with statistics.
“There
are 9,860 children working in the Fish Harbour and
the industrial zones of Karachi while 11,530 are
working in hotels and 1,685 in auto-repair workshops
(car maintenance, etc),” the petitioner stated.
At
least 7,840 cases are pending against juvenile
offenders (children below 18 years of age), in which
12,000 offenders are under trial. Around 4,700
street children are selling flowers and cleaning
windshields at traffic signals.
Seventeen children are living in the Remand Home (a
sanctuary arranged by the government for homeless
children) while 145 under-trial juvenile offenders
are lodged in the juvenile prison.
The
petitioner said that the respondent police officials
are required to arrest street children under Section
109 of the Pakistan Penal Code. Any child found
begging or out on the streets in the night should be
taken to the remand home.
Kazmi
said that under the Guardian and Ward Act, the state
is “the guardian” of all children. The social
welfare department (SWD) has an annual budget of
Rs119 million and also has the National Commission
for Child Welfare and Development but it has done
nothing for the welfare of street children, he
alleged.
As for
the role of the home and prisons department, Kazmi
said that under the Juvenile Justice Rules 2002, the
government was required to construct Borstal Homes
(correctional facilities for the youth) in every
administrative district of the province but this was
never implemented.
Kazmi
asked the court to declare the “state as the
guardian of children” to provide facilities, direct
the law-enforcement agencies to arrest the children
(and provide them refuge in the Remand Home) and
also to summon performance records of the SWD.
The
bench ordered notices to the Advocate General and
all respondents including the chief secretary, home
secretary, finance secretary, Karachi DCO,
Inspector-General of Police, Capital City Police
Officer, SSP Railways, Inspector-General Prisons,
Judicial Lockup Superintendent and Social Welfare
Department Secretary, directing them to present
themselves in court on March 1 and file comments as
well. The hearing was then adjourned till March 1.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 9th,
2011.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/116024/activist-wants-children-sleeping-on-the-roads-arrested-for-their-own-good/
http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=30175&Cat=4&dt=2/9/2011
CDGK issued notice in street children
case
By our correspondent
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Karachi
The Sindh High Court (SHC) issued
notices to the city government, the home secretary
and others on a petition seeking direction for
providing shelter, education and basic necessities
to 32,500 street children in Karachi.
The court was hearing the petition of Human Rights
Commission for South Asia’s representative Iqbal
Kazmi who submitted that as many as 32,500 street
children in the city had been forced to become sex
workers, beggars and do menial jobs. Referring to a
survey conducted by the HRCSA, the petitioner
submitted that 17,000 children have come to the city
from different parts of the country, which implies
that 12 to 20 children had been arriving a day.
The survey mentioned that 2,800 shelter-less
children had been forced to earn their living as sex
workers, while over 12,000 children were involved in
begging. He added that over 11,530 children were
working in different hotels, 1,685 at different
workshops and garages, while 9,860 were working at
different industrial units and fish harbour.
The petitioner submitted that 7,840 children were
involved in crimes and their cases were pending in
different trial courts while only 17 children were
presently kept in Remand Home, set up especially for
the juveniles.
He said that the government is responsible for
providing education and shelter to the street
children but unfortunately despite presence of
several laws for child safety no step was being
taken for providing basic facilities to street
children. He submitted that Social Welfare
Department, which is responsible for the welfare of
the children, was not performing its duties despite
Rs119.450 million budget allocated for this purpose.
Foreign woman’s plea: The Sindh High Court summoned
a police sub-inspector on the application of an
Uzbek woman against the withholding of her passport.
The court was hearing the petition of the Uzbek
woman against harassment and withholding of her
passport by Mauripur police.
Petitioner Sinitsina Inessa Boris, who is residing
with her family for business purpose, alleged that
Sub-Inspector Ikram of Mauripur police station along
with his two sons Rizwan and Farrukh and police
personnel raided her house in DHA area on May 13
last year and took away cash, passport and her
jewellery.
She said that SI Ikram and others took her spouse
Garashi Naib Balakishi, an Azerbaijan national, her
servant and driver to the Mauripur police station
where they released the servant and driver but
demanded Rs2,00,000 for the release of her spouse.
She alleged that the Mauripur police registered a
false fraud case after illegally confining her
spouse at the police station.
Notices issued on
plea for rights of street children
http://www.dawn.com/2011/02/09/notices-issued-on-plea-for-rights-of-street-children.html
KARACHI, Feb 8: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday put
the provincial government, the home department, the
Karachi district coordination officer and the
provincial police chief on notice on a petition
seeking shelter, education and basic necessities to
32,500 street children in Karachi.
A division bench comprising Justices Gulzar Ahmed
and Imam Bux Baloch put off the hearing to March 1.
The petition was
filed by Iqbal Kazmi, a representative of the Human
Rights Commission for South Asia, who submitted in
the petition that as many as 32,500 street children
in the city had been forced to become sex workers,
beggars or do menial jobs.
Referring to a survey
conducted by his organisation, he stated that 17,000
children had trickled into the metropolis from
different parts of the country.
The petitioner
submitted that 2,800 children were being forced to
earn their living as sex workers, while over 12,000
children were involved in begging. Besides, he said,
over 11,530 children were working in different
restaurants; 1,685 at different workshops and
garages; and 9,860 were working at different
industrial units and fish harbour.
The petitioner stated
in the petition that 7,840 children were involved in
crimes and their cases were pending in different
trial courts, while only 17 children were presently
kept at Remand Home, set up especially for underage
prisoners. He submitted that the government was
responsible for provision of education and shelter
to the street children but unfortunately despite the
presence of several laws for child safety no step
was being taken to provide basic facilities to
street children.
He stated that the
social welfare department, which was responsible for
the welfare of the children, was not performing its
duties despite allocation of Rs119.450 million
budget for the purpose.
He prayed to the
court to declare that the provincial government was
the guardian of all shelter-less children in the
province, including Karachi, and direct the
government to ensure provision of shelter, education
and basic facilities to them.
He also prayed to the
court to direct the government to set up hostels,
training workshops and borstal for the shelter-less
and juvenile under trial prisoners |
