Child Abuse in Macedonia Alarms NGOs

Some 18,500 children in Macedonia stay out of school, many of them forced to do hard work or beg, the First Children’s Embassy – Megjashi, an NGO, said, marking June 12, the World Day against Child Labor.

According to Megjashi, some 2,500 children in Macedonia, a country of 2.1 million, live on the street and 4,000 have no ID papers, making them invisible to the system and unable to access institutional help.

“While social workers are increasingly punishing parents who force their children to work, one major shortcoming is that the courts do not sanction parents whose children are not included in the education system,” the head of Megjashi, Dragi Zmijanac, said.

Most child workers and beggars, around 58 per cent, come from the marginalized Roma community, NGO data reveal.

Another worrying item of data shows that 15 per cent of the abused children are below seven years of age while 64 per cent are between seven and 14.

Around 88 per cent of these children manifest "unacceptable' social behaviour, Megjashi also said.

The misuse of child labor also includes sexual misuse and child prostitution for financial gain, child pornography, slavery and children-soldiers.

The head of the Macedonian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, Uranija Pirovska, said the misuse of child labor went largely unreported.

“Social centres know the dysfunctional families but lack the money and capacities to take the appropriate action,” Pirovska said.

Last year, Macedonia changed the law to allow for the jailing of abusive parents, but the change has yet to yield results on the ground.

The government said parents who neglect or molest their children or force them to beg on the streets would face...

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