As parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international instruments, States are bound to ensure respect for the rights of children in conflict with the law. Yet in spite of these State commitments and obligations, children still experience arbitrary arrest, ill- treatment and even torture while in custody. Far too often, children are deprived of liberty for minor offences, non-violent offences or even without committing any offence. Separate systems to deal with the special needs of children in conflict with the law are lacking, and precise data on the number of children detained or imprisoned are scarce.
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To address these important challenges to children's rights, members of parliament from seven South Asian countries attended a regional parliamentary seminar from 27 to 29 July 2007 on child protection and juvenile justice. The three-day event was hosted by the Senate of Pakistan and organized in collaboration with the IPU and UNICEF. Some 60 delegates from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka took part in lively exchanges on the role of parliament in securing respect for the rights of children who are in conflict with the law.
The outcome of the debates highlighted the need to establish juvenile justice systems built on a rights-based approach that promotes diversion and rehabilitation of child offenders. The participants adopted a series of recommendations and commitments and a regional handbook for parliamentarians on juvenile justice was launched on that occasion to assist MPs in their work.
To close the meeting, MPs from South Asia visited a drop-in centre for rag-picking child labourers in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The visit was organized by the ILO-IPEC Time-Bound Programme. To date, of the 1,330 children who have been enrolled in the centres, 159 have been mainstreamed into government schools. Drop-in centres register scavengers/ rag pickers who literally "drop in" during the morning and afternoon. They are placed in close proximity to the depots near the working sites of children involved in rag picking in the Rawalpindi district.
The main features of the drop-in centres are non-formal education, art and craft classes, literacy, a vocational programme in life skills training, child sexual abuse, health and hygiene education and services, and child communities. These centres raised much interest among South Asian MPs as a constructive way of providing support to children without separating them from their families.
