The Hindu : Opinion / News Analysis : Needed: humane options for orphaned children

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Thursday, Jan 06, 2005

Opinion

Opinion - News Analysis

Needed: humane options for orphaned children

By Mari Marcel Thekaekara

NAGAPATTINAM, JAN. 5. Paedophiles love disasters. It gives them the golden opportunity to pick up abandoned children easily. One of the crucial issues that urgently needs a policy paper and a government regulation is the issue of adoption of children orphaned by the tsunami.

Along with the burgeoning tourist traffic, India and Thailand are hotspots for paedophiles on the lookout for vulnerable children. Internet clubs exist solely for the purpose of exchanging information on the best places where these despicable, vile perverts can congregate to exploit kids. They are on the beaches of Goa and Kerala and, as recent reports have proved, are on an organised prowl for innocent little children. They first befriend the kids in the guise of generous "uncles" sometimes accompanied by perverted "aunties" and then after winning their trust, inveigle the unsuspecting children into unsavoury sexual exploits which the children often do not even begin to comprehend. Several anti-trafficking watchdog organisations send out regular warnings but these have not been taken seriously in our country.

While it may be easy to spot ageing white male predators on beaches, we should not overlook the fact that in times of crisis, unscrupulous relatives have sold young boys and girls into slavery. Brothels abound with tragic tales of youngsters sold by their relatives as teenagers or even younger, into prostitution.

A second group waiting to exploit orphaned children are unscrupulous Indians looking for cheap domestic help. With rising wages, more people are employing child labour. These children are always bullied, often abused, beaten, overworked.

At Nagapattinam, the NGO coordination committee is preparing a briefing paper for the government covering different issues and problems that need to be addressed based on the experiences of Gujarat, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.

Pride of Kutch

In Gujarat, the Government had speedily issued a GO totally banning the adoption of children. But this was a blessing which was backed by the strong family ties of rural Gujarati households. No one would dream of allowing a child to be taken away by strangers if family members were available. So uncles, aunts and grandparents took the orphans into their families. It is the pride of Kutch that not a single child left the district for adoption.

`Mamta grihas' in Orissa

In Orissa, there was a different problem. Entire families were wiped out. Word came out that orphans were being sold. Saroj Jha, an exceptional IAS officer, issued a GO prohibiting the removal of children from the villages. ActionAid India set up "Mamta grihas" or houses of love. Women who were left widowed or alone were put together with the orphaned children.

Saroj Dash and Manas, two veterans of the Orissa cyclone, offered the expertise needed to set up systems for tsunami orphans:

"Experts have proved that it is far better for the children to remain within the community. Already, attempts are being made to "arrange" adoptions. For a traumatised child to be taken away to a strange environment where there are different customs, language, food and even possibly foreign parents would be extremely unsettling. It would further disturb an already traumatised child. In Orissa, we encouraged the formation of "Mamta grihas" within the village context. We did not separate siblings or families. Instead we built houses for widows and orphans within the villages they came from. We also provided livelihood support for the women and psychosocial support through counsellors.

"In one village, a 12-year-old girl was left with her two young brothers. They were terrified of being separated. We allowed them to live together in a house we constructed. It was a child-headed household. But they wanted it that way. We can bring volunteers with special experience to help with a similar set up and to deal with connecting families."

Adoption procedures

Barely a week after the disaster, queries were being made about adoption procedures at the government-NGO interface. The Social Welfare Board handles this but it is imperative that the dangers of adoption are pointed out. However well-meaning the people, it is proved that a child flourishes best in the cultural context it has grown up in. To assume that mere affluence provides a better deal is a predictable but erroneous assumption. Let us look for options for these orphaned children which will be kind, humane and like the ones their parents would have provided. They have suffered enough already.

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