CAMBODIA CHILDREN AT RISK

>> PHNOM PENH: A UN human rights envoy on Friday expressed concern about the living conditions and treatment of children in Cambodia, pointing out factors such as overcrowding in state-run facilities.

Concluding her fourth mission in Cambodia, Rhona Smith said many juveniles are detained by authorities or taken to drop-in centres, rehabilitation facilities or residential care institutions by their families.

“Ever more children are being left with elderly relatives when their parents become migrant workers, moving to factories or construction sites in Cambodia or seeking employment overseas,” she said.

She added that many of these children are abused and at risk of turning to drugs and other substances, and that some end up living on the streets.

Upon visiting one of the drop-in centres, Smith said she learned that 544 people, including 6 children, were being kept there.

“This is a substantial increase from my last visit, which I was told was partly attributable to the government’s anti-drug campaign. There was no visible improvement in the facilities, only more overcrowding,” she said.

She urged the Cambodian government to ensure a child-rights-based approach is taken to all matters related to children.

Smith also commented on her visit to Correctional Centre 2, the main prison for women and juveniles in Phnom Penh, which was holding 482 juveniles, 38 of whom were female.

The level of overcrowding was such that convicted female juveniles were being held in the same cells as adult women, she said.

Smith said Cambodia needs comprehensive social and child protection systems and appropriately trained social workers in all communes.