Vulnerable kids: ‘Ensure secure environment’

ISLAMABAD: Ministry of human rights has asked the Islamabad chief commissioner to direct the district administration to send all children found begging on the streets to the National Child Protection Centre (NCPC). The ministry is concerned with the prevailing situation of missing children reported from the Punjab.

The ICT Child Protection Law is there to ensure a secure environment for the children, a ministry official told the APP. He said it was observed that many children were involved in begging on the streets in the capital. These children are used by professional beggars and are vulnerable to abuse, exploitation and experience violence. The ministry has also stressed on taking legal action against the perpetrators for curbing the menace. The official said that the NCPC was working on providing protection and support to vulnerable and at risk children. The services of the NCPC have been in place since March 2007, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 1^st, 2016.