Children's rights campaign starts<\/p>\n
BANDUNG: A children's rights campaign began here on Wednesday
\nwith a call for the government to pay serious attention to the at
\nleast 150,000 children living in refugee camps throughout the
\narchipelago.<\/p>\n
Arist Merdeka Sirait, director of the National Commission for
\nthe Protection of Children, said that the children of families
\nvictimized by a series of sectarian clashes had an uncertain
\nfuture as the government had been too slow in helping them.<\/p>\n
The 150,000 children included under-fives suffering from
\nmalnutrition and trauma, he said, citing the more than 1,000
\nchildren who died in Sambas due to a shortage of potable water.<\/p>\n
\"Some 5,000 refugee children in the island of Buton, Sulawesi,
\nare suffering from malnutrition, and 6,000 pregnant women are
\nlacking proper medical treatment,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The prolonged \"civil war\" in Aceh had also resulted in poverty
\namong the people. More than 10,000 Acehnese children living in
\neight refugee centers in Medan were now suffering from
\nmalnutrition, he said.<\/p>\n
\"The Commission found in July of this year that children under
\n15 years old in four of the refugee camps were prone to sexual
\nexploitation. Meanwhile, in West Timor 50,000 children under 12
\nyears of age are suffering from malnutrition.\" (25\/sur)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/childrens-rights-campaign-starts-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}