It is a sorry sight to see children in the ages between 10 and 12 begging on the streets, at bus stops etc in major Towns including Colombo.

There are stories in news papers that such children distribute pamphlets and sing Sinhala songs describing that they have lost their parents, that they have to look after their brothers and sisters, that their parents had lost limbs and so on to win the sympathy of the people .

Obviously, these indicate that they have been orchestrated by some under world groups in order to amass wealth through child labour. These groups exploit poverty that prevails among children to get wealth.

Children, who should be at school at this tender age, are on the streets begging. It is reported that they are paid a meager sum on a daily basis. These children later become victims to several other vices such as thefts, robbery, drug addiction violence etc.

Stern measures must be taken to arrest this unhealthy trend. Law enforcement authorities must take immediate steps to save these children from undesirable elements.

We point out that the future of our children in this country should be bright

An English translation of the Editorial, a Tamil daily, based in Colombo

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