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