Now Reading: Assam advisory: don’t shelter unaccompanied flood-hit children
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Assam advisory: don’t shelter unaccompanied flood-hit children
Guwahati: The State Child Protection Society (SCPS) Assam has warned that children separated from families during floods face higher risks of trafficking, abuse, and exploitation, and has issued an advisory urging the…
The Story in Brief
Guwahati: The State Child Protection Society (SCPS) Assam has warned that children separated from families during floods face higher risks of trafficking, abuse, and exploitation, and has issued an advisory urging the public not to take such children home or arrange adoptions. The advisory, under Mission Vatsalya and the state women and child development department, says any decision on care, restoration, or adoption must follow the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
The SCPS asks people to report separated, injured, or abandoned children to the police, 112, or Child Helpline 1098, and not to upload photos or personal details of such children on social media. It also cautions against crowding, filming, or interviewing children in relief camps. Separately, civil society group Just Rights for Children has called for stricter vigilance at railway stations and on trains in Assam and West Bengal, and has written to the Railway Protection Force for increased surveillance.
The Indian Opinion
The advisory is sensible, but the real test is enforcement. Well-meaning citizens who take in a stranded child, or post appeals on WhatsApp, can unknowingly feed the trafficking chain. The state must track how many children are reported through 1098 and 112, and how quickly reunions happen. Just Rights for Children rightly points to railway stations as key transit points; the public should press the RPF to report concrete action. Will the government publish weekly figures on children reunited with their families?
Source: assamtribune.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
