Drenge i laset tøj og med en blikdåse om halsen er et velkendt syn i Dakars gader. Det er almindelig praksis at koranskoler sender børn helt ned til 4 år på gaden hele dagen for at tigge og endnu har myndighederne ikke holdt deres løfte om at gribe ind, siger ny rapport fra vagthund.
DAKAR, 21 March 2014 (IRIN): Despite pledges by the Senegalese government to end child begging and to crack down on the Koranic schools that exploit the tens of thousands of boys, very little has been done, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a recent report.
Known as talibés, the children take to the streets each day in Dakar and other urban centres to beg for small change and food.
The boys, some as young as four years old, are often under-weight or malnourished, barefoot and in old, tattered clothes.
They spend hours in the sun, weaving in and out of traffic, hoping to receive enough alms (almisser) to reach the daily quota set by their teacher – usually around 500 CFA (ca. 5,40 DKR), plus sugar and uncooked rice. If they do not reach their quota, they risk being beaten.
Tiggeri er en del af ‘uddannelsen’
“For years, successive governments in Senegal have talked about the need to regulate Koranic schools, to make sure there are minimum standards, and that there is oversight in terms of the living and learning conditions of these schools,” said Matt Wells, a West Africa researcher for HRW and author of the report, adding:
“But there has not been the action that I think many of us hoped to see. You still have as many boys on the streets begging as ever in Senegal.”
A recent government survey found that more than 30.000 of Dakar’s 54.837 Koranic students practiced begging as part of their “education”, said Awa Ndour, a representative of the Ministry of Justice’s anti-trafficking unit.
Many of the exploited talibé live in half-constructed buildings, with no water or electricity. They sleep crammed together on dirt floors in small, mosquito-infested rooms.
HRW says the boys are subject to physical and emotional abuse (misbrug). There have been reports of boys being chained up for hours or days at a time.
“It is an embarrassment to Islam, these schools that claim to be Koranic,” said Mouhamed Niasse, an imam and Koranic teacher in Dakar, noting:
“I have more than 300 students, and not one of them has ever been out onto the streets to beg. I pity the children I see on the streets.”
Handel med fattige drenge fra nabolande
Læs hele artiklen: http://www.irinnews.org/report/99809/scant-progress-on-senegal-s-talib%C3%A9-problem
