KARACHI, Jan 10: A majority of street children in city has been arrested from time to time on one charge or another, reveals a private charity survey at a workshop on ‘Preventive measures for street children: orientation and capacity building training’ for the police staff of Saddar, Jamshed and Clifton towns on Wednesday.
The Situational Analysis of Karachi about the criminal record of the street children, conducted by Azad Foundation, revealed that 51.7 per cent of street children have been arrested from time to time on different charges.
While discussing average days of police custody, the study showed that 33.5 per cent of street children were remained in police custody for two to seven days.
Data also showed that 31.5 per cent of them were arrested on charges of theft, 28.8 per cent on charges of drug addiction while 20 per cent were arrested citing no reason.
As per the facts and figures shown in the survey, there are around 10,000-12,000 children living on the streets of Karachi and more than half of them are living in Saddar and Jamshed towns. Police while on patrolling as well as officials of Azad Foundation while on field work remained in contact with the street children and felt it necessary to maintain coordination among service providers to nurture a better environment for these children.
Some 40 police officers from three towns attended the training, which was jointly organized with the European Union, Group Development and Azad Foundation, an organization working on the issue of street children.
According to the organizers, the main purpose of the training was to maintain rapport among the service providers to ensure the protective environment and safe future for street living children, to sensitize the police officials about street children as these children come into contact with the police either when they are in need of care and protection or in conflict with the law and to ensure that this encounter is always a positive one, where both sides emerge with dignity and respect.
Besides, the organizers said, another objective was to make the police aware of child-friendly laws present in the Constitution as through their implementation they could provide protection to these innocents and save them from further victimization.
Aqsa Zainab; project coordinator delivered a presentation “Issue of child protection with the reference of street children”, Naveed Hassan Khan; chief executive Azad Foundation introduced his NGO and objective of the training sessions with the police.
Khawaja Naveed Advocate of the Supreme Court gave presentation on “Sindh Children’s Act”. TPO Clifton Azad Khan in his presentation on “Police Order” suggested how a child should be treated if he/she was found in real or perceived conflict with law.
Ch. Muhammad Iqbal Advocate High Court presented his views on Juvenile Justice System while Justice (Rtd) Ali Aslam Jafri, Federal Ombudsman for Insurance, gave his conclusion on Sindh Children’s Act and Juvenile Justice System.
DIG Administration Zafar Farooqui, the chief guest, emphasised on the need to provide knowledge about the grim situation of street children in Karachi and to nurture a protected environment according to the laws.
