Refugees at risk

Editorial:THE NEWS

The displaced persons turned into refugees in their own homeland face many risks. At camps, outbreaks of sickness are being reported and the 900,000 people now displaced struggle to survive. A new exodus as curfew was lifted in Swat is likely to make things even harder for all those fleeing homes, as more pressure is exerted on existing facilities and more pour into camps. But among these people, the most miserable must be those who have lost children. According to reports, the Taliban have been kidnapping both boys and girls, either to use as human shields or to enrol as fighters. Other stories are even more alarming. Volunteers and activists working with the IDPs say people from Punjab and other parts of the country are visiting camps and ‘buying’ children from desperate, poverty-stricken families, presumably to use in the sex industry. Both girls and boys are said to be in demand.

This trade must stop. The government needs to do more to protect people who are already vulnerable and prone to fall victim to such exploitation. The desperation brought by misery means parents may feel they have no choice but to sacrifice one child in order to save others. Checks need to be put in place. We saw similar efforts to take away children after the 2005 quake, sometimes even from hospital wards. That should have taught us some lessons. Access to camps needs to be restricted; only legitimate representatives of groups which have been registered should be allowed in. Camp authorities too need to be warned about the sex trade now said to be on, so they can be on the alert. And parents who are being told their children will be offered jobs in big cities too need to be warned against falling for this line.

Every crisis, in one way or the other, exposes both the best and the worst of humankind. This is being seen too at the camps. Many well-meaning volunteers are doing all they can to help; ordinary citizens have taken up goods and cash and toys for children. But there are also others whose motives are evil. An effort to protect the refugees from them is urgently needed, before more such cases take place and add to anger against a state that has struggled to come to grips with an immense crisis.