Push to find missing kids
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The initiative China's police launched on Tuesday to step up the search for missing children till June 1 is a move in the right direction. Police at local county and city levels will issue the alert when missing children are reported.
Within six months police will conduct DNA tests on children with obscure origins and match results with the DNA database to make sure they were not abducted.
Many children and young people, or their parents, are enticed by promises of a better life, or one that will enable them to support their families. Some children are kidnapped; others are sold or hired out to adult controllers who use them in different ways; some are sold for adoption; but most are forced to beg or work on the street - selling flowers, singing, shining shoes, etc. In extreme cases some children are deliberately maimed so that their begging brings in more money and some of course disappear into the sex trade.
In January, a letter from a missing child's mother spurred Professor Yu Jianrong of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences to launch a micro blog urging people to post snapshots of child beggars. Hundreds of pictures were subsequently posted online and thousands of supporters helped save several children.
This shows the power of the Internet. But its influence is limited and not coordinated. Also, the United Nations Children's Fund does not recommend people post photos of abducted children online, as these pictures can put the children at the risk of being threatened and punished.
Governments and communities need to develop multi-pronged responses to curb the growth in child trafficking.
Rather than treating child trafficking as an isolated issue, the government should respond by creating comprehensive and integrated child protection mechanisms.
Many factors make some rural children vulnerable. Among these are extreme poverty and debt. Children separated from their families or without proper legal identity are particularly vulnerable.
A registration system some parts of the country piloted is recommendable. Village heads in these areas prohibit any young person who has not completed compulsory education from leaving his or her place of origin. Also, a good partnership between police and radio and television could make our efforts to save abducted and trafficked children more efficient.
We hope the ongoing campaign will herald the beginning of a comprehensive and integrated system for protecting children.
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