The Children of Congo’s Streets
News of child suffering in hardly new in any country these days, and the Congo is no stranger to children’s rights violations and suffering. Years of war and economic instability has now lead the country is now find its streets flooded with children, as some estimate there are more than 3,000 street children in the country. The estimates on the actual number of street children in the Congo are most likely given with extreme conservatism, as many fear that they are only seeing more children on the streets.
Why are there so many children? The countries long running civil war, which ended in 2003, engulfed many child soldiers, of which many saw only rise in th past year, as seen in my previous post Child Soldiers in the Congo are Increasing. Many former child soldiers have now been led to the streets, many who lack the demobilization and reintegration support they so desperatly need. The war has also left many children orphans, in increasingly abusive homes and families impoverished, leading many to seek refuge and solace on the streets. Other children have literally been thrown out on the streets by their families and communities for the sins of witchcraft, as you can see more on in my previous post, Children Cast Into the Streets as Witches.
The trafficking of children in the Congo has also lead to an increased presence of children on the streets, as well as an additional burden of child abuses. According to a 2007 UNICEF report (volume one and volume two both in French) an estimated that 200,000 children are victimized by trafficking each year in the central and West African region’s alone. The children are primarily being trafficked from Benin, Mali, Guinea, Senegal, Togo, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Children like 16 year old Lucie find themselves toiling the streets day and night;
“My parents handed me over to an aunt a year ago. During the day I am here in the marketplace. In the evenings I sell cake on the main road,” she told IRIN. “If I complain about being tired or having a headache, I am accused of being lazy or stupid. Sometimes they hit me. I’ve realised I am not like the other children in the house. I am a slave.” (Tackling child trafficking)
While the government has been working to establish programs to curtail the growing problem of street children since 2004, when it introduced reintegration programs, however the continued brake down of the countries family and structure appears to be the leading cause of the growing number of children on the streets. Therefore it would appear that programs must be put into place to address those vulnerable families, who are struggling both economically and socially. If the needs of the family are not addressed the Congo will only see more children turned out on to the streets from abuse and allegations of witchcraft.