Vigilance needed over ‘orphanages’ and ‘pastors’
Most people assume that children in orphanages are less cared for or ill-treated. The Tsunami in 2004 December naturally saw a sudden rise in the number of orphaned children in Sri Lanka and this in addition to the three decades of war. The end of the war and post-tsunami reconstruction and resettlement served to push the issue of orphans off radar. However, after media reports that a children’s home at Agathe, Bogahapelessa, Tissamaharama was using its children to do menial work including slaughter of animals in a livestock farm adjoining the orphanage, special attention was drawn to children’s homes and orphanages once again.
Kodithuwakku
Arachchige Dayarathna, a ‘pastor’ who has been running the particular
children’s home for a long time was arrested by the police last Monday
(25). The police spokesman’s office stated that the suspect was released
on bail after been produced before the Tissamaharama Magistrate Court
the following day.
The state authorities responsible for overseeing orphanages had apparently been clueless of the situation at this particular orphanage until the media revealed it, although they claim to conduct investigations and raids in the orphanages all over the country. The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) conducts regular investigations of registered and unregistered orphanages in the country. “The last monitoring session was completed last December and the results were submitted to the Secretary, Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Affairs in the form of a report on January 4 on National Day against Child Violence. There are roughly 450 registered orphanages in the country. The number of unregistered orphanages is unknown as they are mushrooming all over the country”, Chairperson, NCPA Ms Anoma Dissanayaka said.
When asked about this particular orphanage, Dissanayaka said it was investigated during the 2011 monitoring process. When asked whether it is registered or not Dissanayake said, “I can’t be sure whether it is registered of not, but it should be because children are sent there by court order.”Five police officers and NCPA officers were dispatched to the orphanage in question as soon as media reported the incident. The pig sty in question is 200 meters from the orphanage.
“According to our mandate the NCPA can only legally intervene if there is evidence of neglect or abuse by a certain orphanage. We cannot register unregistered orphanages; that task is under the purview of the Department of Probation,” Dissanayake explained Dissanayake further pointed out that in the case of Bogahapalassa orphanage the fact that children of the orphanage were allowed to walk 200 meters from the orphanage unsupervised would certainly suggest neglect and children being forced to engage in slaughtering animals would result in some form of mental abuse. This, she claims, makes it possible to take the orphanage owners to courts. ‘If the Tissamaharama police have already pressed charges the NCPA will monitor the case,’ she said
When contacted, the Department of Probation & Child Care Services Commissioner, Ms. Yamuna Perera on Tuesday (26) evening said that the Department has still not received a complete report of the NCPA annual monitoring.
“It must be with the Secretary. We are not aware of it. Even the Southern Provincial Commissioner doesn’t know about this. If we were informed about such an issue earlier we would have taken necessary actions”, she said. However Ms. Perera told The Nation on the following day morning that she came to know that a document has been submitted to the Southern Provincial Commissioner “The NCPA has submitted a document to the Southern Provincial Commissioner, but no special issue has been recorded in the document for us to take action,” she pointed out.
Southern Province Probation and Childcare Commissioner, Indumini Liyanage said that the officers of the NCPA have submitted a document with photocopies of originals. “But there is no information about this particular children’s’ home in the report. I re-checked it when Ms. Perera inquired about it. The document has details only about four orphanages out of seven orphanages in Hambantota. Details about three orphanages including the Agathe orphanage are missing”, she noted. She also said that there were small issues like uncleanliness mentioned in the document and they have already informed the orphanages about the issues and asked them to take necessary remedial action.
Liyanage has spoken to the children of the Bogahapelessa Thissamaharama orphanage herself regarding this particular incident during the investigations. According to her none of the children at the orphanage were forced to work in the farm. “There were four children who were involved in this incident. Two of them are over the age of 18 who is engaged in occupations as they are considered as adults. But they stay at the orphanage on their off days as they have nowhere else to go. According to what they said they have engaged in slaughtering animal by their choice. No one has asked them to it.”
According to Liyanage, children in the orphanage are required to water the vegetable gardens daily according to a roster. “The other two were returning from the vegetable gardens when they stopped near the slaughter house, they had been asked not to work in it, as they said”, she said. “The authorities were clueless that these children were helping out at the farm. When I spoke to the other children at the orphanage they also said that they were never asked to work at the slaughter house”, she added. As the Southern Provincial Commissioner mentioned, there are over 80 children in this orphanage including nine boys over 14 years. “When the boys reach the age of 14, they are separated from the section where all the girls and boys under 18 live to avoid the problems”
However, regardless of not receiving the NCPA report the Southern Province Probation and Childcare Services has deployed its officers to investigate the incident. “They don’t seem to hide the truth but we’ll have to wait for the investigation report to decide” she claimed.
Speaking about admitting orphaned children to children’s homes and orphanages Ms. Yamuna Perera said children who were abandoned in hospitals or on the road and children who have been abused or molested are admitted into orphanages following court orders. “Other than that there are parents who want their children to be admitted to orphanages, mostly due to poverty. That also depends on the court’s decision. If the court decides, those children will also be admitted to orphanages”, she explained. She further said that there are no specific ways to monitor each individual after they are directed to orphanages. “But if an orphanage was found not suitable for the children or not up to the standards during raids, the children there will be directed to other orphanages. And that will also be a court order” she said.
The average age limit for a child to retain at a Children’s orphanage is 18. According to Perera some children are not permitted to leave the orphanage under certain circumstances. Normally children are sent away when they finish their education and find employment. Some girls get married. But if there are no proper guardians to take care of that child he or she will be taken care by the orphanage for a further period of time,” she explained.
Published in The Nation on March 31,2013
Link : http://www.nation.lk/edition/fine/item/16935-children-as-abattoirs.html
Most people assume that children in orphanages are less cared for or ill-treated. The Tsunami in 2004 December naturally saw a sudden rise in the number of orphaned children in Sri Lanka and this in addition to the three decades of war. The end of the war and post-tsunami reconstruction and resettlement served to push the issue of orphans off radar. However, after media reports that a children’s home at Agathe, Bogahapelessa, Tissamaharama was using its children to do menial work including slaughter of animals in a livestock farm adjoining the orphanage, special attention was drawn to children’s homes and orphanages once again.
Kodithuwakku
Arachchige Dayarathna, a ‘pastor’ who has been running the particular
children’s home for a long time was arrested by the police last Monday
(25). The police spokesman’s office stated that the suspect was released
on bail after been produced before the Tissamaharama Magistrate Court
the following day. The state authorities responsible for overseeing orphanages had apparently been clueless of the situation at this particular orphanage until the media revealed it, although they claim to conduct investigations and raids in the orphanages all over the country. The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) conducts regular investigations of registered and unregistered orphanages in the country. “The last monitoring session was completed last December and the results were submitted to the Secretary, Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Affairs in the form of a report on January 4 on National Day against Child Violence. There are roughly 450 registered orphanages in the country. The number of unregistered orphanages is unknown as they are mushrooming all over the country”, Chairperson, NCPA Ms Anoma Dissanayaka said.
When asked about this particular orphanage, Dissanayaka said it was investigated during the 2011 monitoring process. When asked whether it is registered or not Dissanayake said, “I can’t be sure whether it is registered of not, but it should be because children are sent there by court order.”Five police officers and NCPA officers were dispatched to the orphanage in question as soon as media reported the incident. The pig sty in question is 200 meters from the orphanage.
“According to our mandate the NCPA can only legally intervene if there is evidence of neglect or abuse by a certain orphanage. We cannot register unregistered orphanages; that task is under the purview of the Department of Probation,” Dissanayake explained Dissanayake further pointed out that in the case of Bogahapalassa orphanage the fact that children of the orphanage were allowed to walk 200 meters from the orphanage unsupervised would certainly suggest neglect and children being forced to engage in slaughtering animals would result in some form of mental abuse. This, she claims, makes it possible to take the orphanage owners to courts. ‘If the Tissamaharama police have already pressed charges the NCPA will monitor the case,’ she said
When contacted, the Department of Probation & Child Care Services Commissioner, Ms. Yamuna Perera on Tuesday (26) evening said that the Department has still not received a complete report of the NCPA annual monitoring.
“It must be with the Secretary. We are not aware of it. Even the Southern Provincial Commissioner doesn’t know about this. If we were informed about such an issue earlier we would have taken necessary actions”, she said. However Ms. Perera told The Nation on the following day morning that she came to know that a document has been submitted to the Southern Provincial Commissioner “The NCPA has submitted a document to the Southern Provincial Commissioner, but no special issue has been recorded in the document for us to take action,” she pointed out.
Southern Province Probation and Childcare Commissioner, Indumini Liyanage said that the officers of the NCPA have submitted a document with photocopies of originals. “But there is no information about this particular children’s’ home in the report. I re-checked it when Ms. Perera inquired about it. The document has details only about four orphanages out of seven orphanages in Hambantota. Details about three orphanages including the Agathe orphanage are missing”, she noted. She also said that there were small issues like uncleanliness mentioned in the document and they have already informed the orphanages about the issues and asked them to take necessary remedial action.
Liyanage has spoken to the children of the Bogahapelessa Thissamaharama orphanage herself regarding this particular incident during the investigations. According to her none of the children at the orphanage were forced to work in the farm. “There were four children who were involved in this incident. Two of them are over the age of 18 who is engaged in occupations as they are considered as adults. But they stay at the orphanage on their off days as they have nowhere else to go. According to what they said they have engaged in slaughtering animal by their choice. No one has asked them to it.”
According to Liyanage, children in the orphanage are required to water the vegetable gardens daily according to a roster. “The other two were returning from the vegetable gardens when they stopped near the slaughter house, they had been asked not to work in it, as they said”, she said. “The authorities were clueless that these children were helping out at the farm. When I spoke to the other children at the orphanage they also said that they were never asked to work at the slaughter house”, she added. As the Southern Provincial Commissioner mentioned, there are over 80 children in this orphanage including nine boys over 14 years. “When the boys reach the age of 14, they are separated from the section where all the girls and boys under 18 live to avoid the problems”
However, regardless of not receiving the NCPA report the Southern Province Probation and Childcare Services has deployed its officers to investigate the incident. “They don’t seem to hide the truth but we’ll have to wait for the investigation report to decide” she claimed.
Speaking about admitting orphaned children to children’s homes and orphanages Ms. Yamuna Perera said children who were abandoned in hospitals or on the road and children who have been abused or molested are admitted into orphanages following court orders. “Other than that there are parents who want their children to be admitted to orphanages, mostly due to poverty. That also depends on the court’s decision. If the court decides, those children will also be admitted to orphanages”, she explained. She further said that there are no specific ways to monitor each individual after they are directed to orphanages. “But if an orphanage was found not suitable for the children or not up to the standards during raids, the children there will be directed to other orphanages. And that will also be a court order” she said.
The average age limit for a child to retain at a Children’s orphanage is 18. According to Perera some children are not permitted to leave the orphanage under certain circumstances. Normally children are sent away when they finish their education and find employment. Some girls get married. But if there are no proper guardians to take care of that child he or she will be taken care by the orphanage for a further period of time,” she explained.
Published in The Nation on March 31,2013
Link : http://www.nation.lk/edition/fine/item/16935-children-as-abattoirs.html
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