<P>Sri Lanka: Teen escapees from LTTE, 200 teenagers being "forcibly" trained (December 31, 2002)</P>
<P>Three teenage boys who escaped from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), an insurgency group in Sri Lanka, surrendered to the police. The boys said that they were abducted by the LTTE about a month back and given military training at an LTTE Camp.<BR>The teenagers also mentioned to the police and the army that at least 200 other teenage boys were currently undergoing military training at the camp. Most of them were abducted from the eastern regions of Sri Lanka and were being forcibly trained by the LTTE.[The Colombo Page]</P>
<P><BR>Pakistan: Violence, abuse push children to crime (December 29, 2002)</P>
<P>Domestic violence against children and abuse at workplace were cited as the main factors pushing them to commit crimes at the seminar on 'child labour and protection to children' held at Hyderabad press club in Pakistan. <BR>...in Pakistan, even the children were subjected to forced labour, abuse at workplace and domestic violence. Other speakers, on the occasion, highlighted the issue by saying that Pakistani rulers, intellectuals and the upper class had become insensitive to the problems faced by the common man. They called for strict enforcement of the International Labour Organization's convention 182, saying that over a million children were working in different factories in the country. They said that the convention should be incorporated in the Constitution of Pakistan. An ordinance, they said, had been promulgated regarding compulsory education of children but it remains to be implemented, adding that even minor boys were made to work in factories of Kotri and Hyderabad. [FACE Newsletter]</P>
<P>United Arab Emirates (UAE) bans use of children as camel jockeys (December 29, 2002)</P>
<P>The use of children under the age of 15 as camel jockeys in the United Arab Emirates in the sport of camel racing is a known violation of children's rights. Most of the children used as jockeys are illegally smuggled from South East Asian countries, particularly from Bangladesh, into the UAE. <BR>In a move to correct this violation and end the use of children as jockeys, the Emirates Camel Racing Federation (ECRF) has taken a firm stand against the use of children under the age of 15 as jockeys. <BR>The federation has passed guidelines stating that, 'No-one is permitted to ride camels in camel-races unless they have a minimum weight of 35 kg, and are not less than 15 years old, as stated in their passports.' A medical committee has been set up to examine each candidate to be a jockey to check that the age stated in their passport is correct. Under the Federation's rules, the owners of UAE camel-racing stables are responsible for returning children under 15 who were formerly employed as jockeys to their home countries. UAE authorities urged the cooperation of the countries of origin in order to effectively tackle the illegal smuggling of children and enforce the ban.[News From Bangladesh (NFB)]</P>
<P>Malaysia: Reported child abuse not indicate of real crisis (December 27, 2002)</P>
<P>...Under-reporting in the case of child abuse is very common because of the fear of stigmatization, this causes the violence to continue and the victims face further trauma. Most cases brought to the one-stop Crisis Center (OSCC) are in the early or middle stages. Severe abuse cases came to light too late - the victims either died at the scene of the abuse or enroute to the hospital. <BR>...On December 26, the government made a plea to the public to report any forms of child abuse. Under the Child Act passed in 2001, the social welfare department is legislated to provide protection for all children who have been reported to have suffered abuse. <BR>With the reality of under-reporting and many cases of child abuse going unreported, the Child Act 2001 is vital in addressing societal stigma and providing treatment to abused children in Malaysia.[Malaysian National News Agency]<BR></P>