Kosovo The tragic destiny of little beggars Lots of children who fill the streets of the capital begging or working are physically and psychologically abused

December 6, 2010

Frame :

• Even parents force them to beg
• Physical abuse is the punishment for those who disobey
• Police does not react enough
• The phenomenon is increased after the war
• Roma from Albania part of trafficking
• No respect of the international conventions

Comment: One of the main Kosovo daily newspapers “Kosova Sot”, published a three full-page report on the situation of begging children in the streets of Kosovo, and one full page with the International Convention on the Rights of the Child translated into the Albanian language. This is an investigation article and as such, the author herself has gone on the streets to observe the situation, talk to the children victims of exploitation, in order to find strong arguments and also to better understand the roots of the phenomenon.

The article addresses a sensitive issue in a direct and realistic way increasing its visibility. The author’s attitude is very critical towards the increasing phenomenon and the weak reaction of state authorities. It also highlights the issue of Albanian Roma children coming from Albania to Kosovo with their families for begging purposes. This is a phenomenon on which Tdh delegation in Kosovo and other relevant NGOs have been working hard, to find proper and long standing solutions for the children.

The negative aspect of this article is that first names of children are fully disclosed, accompanied by the first letter of their surnames together with their age, and in some cases the names of the neighborhoods or schools. The article does not specify whether the personal details of these children are real or not.

The iconography offers images of children whose faces are blurred out, but the pictures are not positive, they show children in a degrading and hopeless situation especially the second photo, which shows two children laying down on the street. The captions of the photos say: The begging children, whose names are mentioned in the investigation. The second photo shows the place where the children are begging in Prishtina, which could lead to a precise localization and identification of the vulnerable children.

The journalist manages to gather information from numerous sources: not only from the children themselves, but also the spokesperson of the police, the director of the Human Rights Council, the head of the Court of minor offences, one sociologist, the delegate of Terre des hommes in Kosovo and the Ombudsperson. As a result, the article describes the situation of exploited children with realism and accuracy.

Comments: Klevis Vaqari, Advocacy officer for the Terre des hommes delegation in Kosovo