World Street Children News

Thursday, 22 March, 2001, 16:58 GMT

Britain’s runaway children could be offered counselling and a roof over their heads, the prime minister has suggested.

Every year 77,000 British children under 16 run away from home for at least one night.

Many flee physical or mental abuse at home, and a quarter end up sleeping on the streets with some surviving through begging, stealing, drug dealing and prostitution.

The consultation report was launched on Thursday by Tony Blair, who said it was important to find out why so many children run away and why so many are reluctant to return home again.

‘Immediate safety’

He said: "We have to make it less likely that young people run away in the first place and, if they do run, ensure their immediate safety.

The internet is also being used to find missing children

"And we must not just turf them back where they came from without finding out why they ran away and addressing these issues."

The consultation process will be carried out by the government’s Social Exclusion Unit.

The unit will work with runaways and goverment departments to formulate future policy.

The document, launched by the prime minister, suggest runaways who are found on the street should be identified and interviewed.

A network of refuge provision and reintegration support could ensure that runaways have the option of shelter.

It is also suggested that each area will have standardised procedures for dealing with runaways, and a named person will be in charge of co-ordinating services.

Many missing children end up sleeping rough on the streets

The consultation document has been welcomed by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).

A spokeswoman said: "These children face enormous risks and trauma, often hiding and alone on our streets. It is crucial we take their needs seriously and ensure they are safe and supported in the long-term."

The NSPCC is urging the Government to set up a nation-wide network of targeted protection and prevention services to support children who run away.

The society pointed out that, although there is a statutory provision for accommodation for runaway children, there is only one left in the whole country, the London Refuge.

Madeline Ismach, NSPCC London director, said: "Thousands of vulnerable children run away every year.

"The Refuge provides a safe place where young people can talk about the problems which forced them to run away and aims to

Hello From The Gutter: Bucharest’s Street Kids

It’s only 10:30 in the morning when we leave and I start my quest to find some of Bucharest’s 5,000 street kids. Later I run into heavy opposition from many of the Romanian women I meet at the conference when I mention that I want to do a photo essay on the street orphans. The prevailing attitude is that it’s a hoax — that these kids are neither homeless, nor orphans, nor even hungry, for the most part. That they are the products of lazy parents who dress them in rags and send them out into the streets begging. Later, I will discover that some of this is indeed true, though only in the most tangential ways and that the real picture is even bigger and uglier and more complex than I had initially thought.

The kids I meet outside the presidential palace are very young, the oldest is only about ten. They live and interact with the 200,000 stray dogs in the city, a result of the 40,000 families made homeless when their houses were demolished to make way for the presidential palace. I can’t seem to make any inroads with these kids though — they’re probably too young and I don’t have an unlimited amount of time. They know two English words "money!" and "so hungry!" Myself, I only know four Romanian words, "bun" (good), "multumesc" (thanks), "va rog" (please), and "nu!" (no). So the only real conversation we’re able to have goes like this:

"Money?"

"Nai."

"So hungry!"

"Nai!"

Though it’s obvious looking at them they’re not exactly hungry. They have their pockets stuffed with loaves of bread which I’ve been watching them feed to stray dogs for the last twenty minutes. But, as the old saying goes,when the only tool you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail. Also, you probably don’t get a lot of money out of tourists holding up an empty plastic sack, presenting a pathetic face and crying "I need money for glue!" Huffing is a serious problem among street kids, nearly all of whom are inhaling the noxious fumes of a metallic paint called aurolac to get high. The paint is part of a Romanian tradition, ironically it’s used to paint the halos of religious icons. Attempts to make it illegal to sell aurolac to children in recent years have been surprisingly difficult. Before I go I pass out a couple hundred thousand lei and the kids run around laughing like they’ve just taken me to the cleaners.

I get back to the hotel later in the day to find that the rest of the group went on a tour of the peasant museum.