Woes of our street children

Some days ago, while scrolling down my Facebook page I caught sight of a video having title Life is very cruel". With curiosity I played the video. I was really shocked going through the video and I was not read to hear something pathetic. It was a story about a boy of 12 or 13 years old talking about his tragic and unpredictable life. His mother is separated from his father. His father married another woman and his mother was married to another man. He has a brother to whom the boy asked shelter. But his brother showed his incapability as his wife disagreed to keep him with them. He was refused by every one of his family members. Finding no other alternative, the boy chose streets as his humble abode. He is now a street child.

In one stage of the video, the boy was asked about his three wishes. Surprisingly, he wished such three things that we automatically achieve in our life without thinking and demanding let alone wishing.  His first wish was to live in a family having father, mother, brother, sister and other relatives. Secondly, he wished to study to be an educated person. His last wish was to maintain his family by doing a good job. If we compare their wish with our lives, we can easily understand the sorrows and sufferings of street children.
We don know whether his heartfelt desires will ever come to fruition. Yet, amidst this uncertainty lies a stark reality: millions of street children roam the worlds bustling thoroughfares, devoid of familial solace to cushion their burdens, lacking the warmth of a home to call their own, and grappling with perpetual hunger gnawing at their insides. The simple comfort of clothing eludes them, and education, a beacon of hope for many, remains an unattainable dream. In the vast tapestry of humanity, their voices often go unheard, their struggles unseen.
For street children, enduring the passing nights beside roads or beneath the shelter of trees may have become a grim norm, but the daunting challenge of securing two square meals persists relentlessly. Driven by the relentless pangs of hunger, they find themselves compelled to engage in hazardous and risky child labor, despite stringent prohibitions against such practices within the country. In their desperate quest to stave off starvation, they navigate perilous paths, their innocence overshadowed by the harsh realities of survival.

Some children are found working in hotels and restaurants serving customers. Some are seen in cities selling flowers in different points. Some are involved in risky tasks such as driving vehicles, working in workshops, ship yard and many industries. A big portion of them is involved in begging alms to the passersby. Nowadays, many passersby have to face an embarrassing situation in the city streets when street begging children hold their legs, hands or dresses firmly for collecting alms. They do not leave the passersby until they get alms.

Though different surveys provide different data about the accurate number of street children, approximately 10 crore street children pass their night on streets around the world. In Bangladesh, there are more than 7 lakh street children and about 75 percent of them live in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. According to Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), the number of street children will rise into more than 10 lakh within 2024.

Malnutrition plagues every corner of the street-dwelling childrens lives, casting a long shadow over their health and well-being. When illness strikes, they find themselves in a cruel predicament, lacking access to the most basic of treatments and devoid of the knowledge necessary to seek help. Consequently, many lie afflicted by serious sickness, their frail bodies prone beside the unforgiving roadside. While commendable efforts by certain private and non-governmental organizations have been made to provide healthcare services tailored to the needs of street children, the reality remains deeply unsatisfactory. Despite these endeavors, the gap between the dire needs of these vulnerable individuals and the available resources persists, leaving countless children grappling with the devastating consequences of untreated illnesses.

Female street children go through a tragic and pathetic condition on the streets as they cannot live freely like male children. They usually fall victim to sexual exploitation. Finally, they choose prostitution as their profession to survive. Rest of their life, they are known as prostitutes in our society. Then they died silently. Life ends here. But no one could know their real story: why they chose this profession; what led them to this way and how they pass their life.  Actually, there is no one to know. Finally, they are neglected socially and religiously.  How pathetic the life is!
According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, there are 12 lakh 80 thousands 1 hundred and 95 hazardous child labour in Bangladesh. The majority of them are street child who having no alternative engage themselves to this high risky profession where they suffer from fatal diseases and embrace immature death.

A study conducted by Combating Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CCSEC) consortium showed that about 86 percent street children are addicted to drugs, and most of them are traumatized due to various terrible experiences in their life.

The steps and measures taken in different times by the government are not up to the mark. Effective steps are to be designed to decrease the number of street children and to increase the living standards of those children within 2041. Recognizing children as the cornerstone of a nations future prosperity, it is imperative to launch a large-scale initiative aimed at safeguarding this invaluable resource. Without such concerted efforts, there is a risk that these potential assets will instead become liabilities for the nation. By prioritizing the creation and implementation of comprehensive programs and policies that address the needs of children, including education, healthcare, and social support, we can ensure that they fulfill their potential and contribute positively to society. Failure to undertake such initiatives not only jeopardizes the well-being of these children but also threatens the future stability and development of the nation as a whole.

The writer is an Assistant Professor, Department of English, Principal Kazi Faruky College, Lakshmipur