Number of street children on the rise

Living on the rough and tumble streets of Pakistan's port city of Karachi, 12-year-old Ashique knows all too well the harsh reality of life. "I'm not afraid. I sleep with my friends," says the dark-haired youth, who was abandoned by his parents. He told IRIN he dreams one day of attending school. But after five years on the street, despite putting on a brave face, prospects for this slender youth are poor. He earns his living by washing passing cars in the city's upscale Clifton Beach area and his life couldn't really be more bleak. "The situation with regard to street children in the city is getting worse. The numbers are multiplying," Naveed Khad, chief executive officer for the Azad Foundation, a Karachi-based NGO, told IRIN. The Azad Foundation has been working to raise the profile of street children in Pakistan for the last five years. The sheer numbers substantiate the grim story. Estimates put the number of children living on the streets of the former capital at 8,000 in 2003. Azad places the latest figures at closer to 12,000, an increase of 50 percent. It is believed there are some 70,000 children living on the streets nationwide. Lahore in the east of Pakistan is extimated to have 7,000 children living on the streets while in the western city of Peshawar there are a further 5,000. Khad said there are another 2,500 in Quetta and 3,000 in Rawalpindi. According to the NGO statistics, in Karachi 54.1 percent of the street children left their homes between the age of 10 and 12. They also estimate that 45 percent of street children are involved with criminal activity in order to survive while 49 percent are at a high risk of HIV/AIDS through intravenous drug usage and sexual abuse.

A young street child receives a plate of food as charity

But accounting for such a complex problem in Pakistan's largest city is not easy. Poverty is the driving force behind the phenomenon, followed by domestic physical and mental abuse, along with peer pressure and drug abuse. "These are the key factors that lead children to begin a life on the streets," according to Farah Iqbal, Azad's research head and a trained psychologist at Karachi University, speaking to IRIN. Whether for economic or social reasons, street children leave their homes to live in parks, doorways, under bridges or in the open air. Many find work collecting waste paper, cleaning cars, working as shoe shiners or in small hotels selling water, newspapers or other cheap items. Some resort to begging, pick-pocketing or solicit themselves for sex, while others end up as drug addicts. They use inhalants which are cheap and easily accessible but which cause irreversible brain damage as well as a host of physical debilities. "They abuse solvents more than drugs, such as glue," Iqbal said, because of the cheapness. Yet the problem of street children goes far beyond solvent abuse. They have no access to basic amenities such as health, education or food.

The streets of Saddar can be a dangerous place for children

The backstreets of Karachi's bustling Saddar district is filthy and permeated by the stench of urine. Yet here children as young as five, huddle in groups of eight to 10 for warmth and security at night. "My friends are my family now," one boy, his face blackened by the filth of the street, told IRIN shyly. "I feel safe here." But safe, he is not. Street children are easy prey for those feeding on their innocence. And with numbers increasing each year, so too do reports of physical and sexual abuse. According to Azad, four out of every 10 street children examined were infected with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Sexual abuse is not uncommon. Many street children offer to provide a 'massage', a euphemism for sex, for as little as a dish of rice. It is this that that prompted Azad to open the Dastak drop-in-centre for street children in Saddar. It is the only facility of its kind and her they can receive rudimentary health care, a hot meal along with basic reading and writing tuition. Perhaps more importantly they are also offered moral support. "Basically, we try to introduce life skills to them and eliminate anti-social behavior," Amjad Rasul, Dastak's programme manager, told IRIN. "They have negative attitudes towards society and need our love and affection." In a further effort to reach the children, a mobile dispensary, complete with a doctor, visits areas where street children are known to congregate.

Zia-ul-Haq shares a smile with friends at the Dastak centre

"Wounds, fever, weakness, stress and STDs are the most common complaints," 29-year-old Dr Rajesh Kurar told IRIN. Zia-ul-Haq, originally from Bangladesh and named after Pakistan's former president, is a daily visitor to the centre. "I don't feel safe on the street. Here I am among friends," he told IRIN, recalling how he would often sniff glue to forget his problems. "My family wanted me to earn money. When I didn't they beat me so I left," the 12-year-old explained. "Living on the street is difficult, but I dream of one day becoming a teacher," he said, telling of his past four years on the street. Whether his dreams will be realised is difficult to say but resources for this desperately vulnerable sector of society are scarce especially when over 47 percent of Paksitan's population lives below the poverty line. Should funds become available, Azad would like to open an overnight shelter for the children attending the centre. The vast majority of the children currently return to the dangerous streets of Karachi each evening.