Protecting the tsunami children

Protecting the tsunami children

Unicef's latest situation update on child trafficking reports that some 1.2 million children are removed illegally each year - as forced labor in factories and on farms, for sexual exploitation and as mail-order brides. Asia is unfortunately well represented in these numbers.

Sri Lanka and Indonesia have with Unicef support mercifully begun registering children. Indonesian directives to ban adoptions are also a quick response, but implementation is tough in traffic within national borders.

A better prevention would be that the more prosperous Asian nations, where child survivors are likely to be destined, implement strict adoption procedures. Any child from a tsunami- stricken country being offered for adoption or put up for procedural approval should trigger an alert. It is only now becoming clear that children are a tragedy unto themselves in the tsunami story, as they will account for maybe up to half of the dead eventually. The living need protecting.

-- The Straits Times, Singapore