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Hargeysa,
Somaliland, September 12, 2009 – The number of street children in
Hargeysa, capital of Somaliland, is on the rise as more Ethiopian
children cross the border in search of a better life.
The immigrant children are adding to the burden of local street
children, most of whom have been forced on to the streets by drought and
insecurity within Somaliland and further south, in Somalia.
“You can see old women accompanying about 20 children, of different
ages, crossing the border into Somaliland from Ethiopia. These women may
be their grandmothers, aunts or mothers,” Khadar Nour, chairman of the
Hargeysa Child Protection Network (HCPN), told IRIN.
"The children, who are mainly from the Oromo [region of Ethiopia], beg
in the streets of Hargeysa with their mothers," Nour said. Some work as
shoe shiners, sending their earnings to relatives in Ethiopia.
Hargeysa is also a popular transit point for those seeking to travel
further. “About 100 to 200 immigrant children cross the border from
Ethiopia into Somaliland [annually] on their way to [the self-declared
autonomous region of] Puntland, or to Yemen,” he said.
Poverty and family break-ups have also fuelled the rise in numbers.
There are about 3,000 children, most of them boys between five and 18,
living on Hargeysa’s streets.
Crime threat
With the rising numbers, officials are concerned about an upsurge in
crime. “They [the street children] are becoming a threat to the town's
stability,” said Nour.
“When they grow up, they still find themselves living in difficult
conditions; it is for this reason that they grab mobile phones."
Consequently, a number of the children are now in conflict with the law.
In August, Nour said, a 16-year-old was sentenced to death in a Berbera
regional court after being found guilty of murder.
"The grown-up street children have become the new gangsters," Mohamed
Ismail Hirsi, Hargeysa’s Central Police Station commander, told IRIN.
"In the last 72 hours, we have arrested more than 30 street children who
have committed crimes such as stealing mobile phones in different parts
of the town."
In the past two years, some 5,000 knives and other weapons, which are
commonly used in robberies, have been recovered from the street
children, prompting calls for more focused interventions.
"People say good words in workshops, but few interventions for street
children have been [implemented]," said Nour of HCPN, which recently
started providing food and education support for the children.
Once arrested, the children are charged as adults because a 2008
juvenile justice law has yet to be implemented.
Glue sniffing
The children living rough are turning to drugs. "I use glue because when
first I came to the streets I saw my friends sniffing it," Ahmed Omar,
12, told IRIN. "Whenever I use it, I am able to survive a difficult
situation."
The lack of a family support system also means more children may end up
on the streets, as Abdi-Qani Ahmed’s experience illustrates. "When my
mother and father divorced, there was no one left to take care of me,"
Ahmed, 11, said. "I used to get my food from restaurants in Hargeysa
where I fed on leftovers.”
During Ramadan, however, few if any restaurants are open. "I have to
wait to see if someone gives me something to eat or not," he said.
Living on the streets puts the children at risk of abuse from other
street children as well as strangers. For protection, the children often
seek refuge outside the police station at night.
maj/aw/mw
Source: IRIN, September 10, 2009
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