"Orphans to adopt": in India, the market for children lost to the pandemic
FOCUS - While India, bruised by the second wave, has exceeded 300,000 deaths from Covid-19, an increase in the number of orphans, exposed to all types of trafficking and exploitation, worries NGOs.
The baby was barely crying. The news shook India bruised by its second wave of covid-19: in Pune, in the south of the country, a child of a few months was found near the body of his mother, who died of the disease several days earlier, tells The Times of India . The neighbors had not dared to approach for fear of being contaminated.
In the chaos of the epidemic, what becomes of the children of the 300,000 deceased from covid-19? The authorities counted on Wednesday, May 27, 577 new children who lost both parents to the coronavirus and were placed in orphanages during the month of April. But that's without counting all those who vanish in nature. Illegal adoptions, prostitution, forced labor: in India, 50,000 children go missing each year. It was before the pandemic.
The situation is chaotic, people are afraid. They dare not approach a potentially sick child
Akancha Shrivastava
Thus in Delhi, a 7-year-old boy, motherless, saw his father contract the coronavirus in mid-April, then leave for the hospital. The little boy waited alone for his return. In vain. After 48 hours, the phone rings: the father died, his body was immediately sent to the crematorium. Where to go, what to do? The child was left alone in the apartment. “ The neighbors called us because they feared they would fall into the hands of malicious people ,” says Akancha Shrivastava. The cybersecurity expert created a crisis line in April to try to identify lost children and link authorities and reception centers. "There is a legal system for taking care of orphans, but it is not at all prepared for such an influx of new children. The authorities are not coordinated with the orphanages, and are not trained in this kind of situation, she continues. The coronavirus is undermining solidarity: “The situation is chaotic, people are wary of everything. They don't dare approach a potentially sick child. ”
On Twitter, classified ads are popping up
In this widespread anxiety, a strange market has sprung up with small ads posted on social media with the hashtag #CovidOrphans. A certain Dipak suggests "two girls to adopt: one aged 1 to 3 days and the other about six months in Gurajat" , followed by an email address. “ If anyone would like to adopt a girl, please do not hesitate to contact Priyanka. The little girl lost her parents to covid, help her have a new life! »Wrote a user on Twitter.
Parents - or buyers are not left out: "I receive more and more calls from parents who wish to adopt without going through the official procedure" , notes Anant Kumar Asthana, lawyer specializing in children's rights, with RFI. Because in India there is an official body that manages adoptions: the Central Adoption Resource Authority, where the procedures sometimes take up to three years. Time to make sure the child is not in fact a stolen child. “The identity of the child is verified, we make sure that no one in the family can take him in. The profile of adoptive parents is also scrutinized in depth ”, explains Sonal Kapoor, founder of Protsahan India Foundation, an NGO that defends children's rights in the country. Because no one knows who is behind his ads posted on social networks, the eternal rhetoric of charity. “I received a proposal by text message to adopt two supposedly orphaned children in order to give them a better life. The advertiser sent me pictures. When I tried to find out more, he started talking about money, ” Akancha Shrivastava explains.
Exploitation and forced labor
Behind the fair of illegal adoption, children lost to the coronavirus are the prey of all kinds of trafficking. “ When a tragedy occurs, the traffickers take advantage of the chaos to recover the children. The problem with the pandemic is that the abuse can come from the families themselves, ” says Sonal Kapoor. "Children are cared for by relatives pushed into poverty and may be forced to work or be sexually exploited." Before the pandemic, the International Labor Organization already estimated that more than 10 million Indians under the age of 14 were forced into forced labor.
In Madanapalle, near Bangalore, Jalla Lalithamma, president of the NGO People's Organization for Rural Development, listed dozens of cases of orphans forced into illegal work. “When the father dies, children are expected to earn their living to support the family. I have seen very young boys working as bag carriers in the market, and young girls hired for manufacturing work in town which turn out to be prostitution networks , ”she regrets.
The Interior Ministry urged the various states to strengthen their care systems for orphans. Meanwhile, Achanka Shrivastava's child straying hotline continues to ring ... up to 3,500 times a day.
.