Turkish commission dubs Diyarbakır 'city of lost children'

Diyarbakır is the “city of lost children,” according to Parliament’s human rights review sub-commission’s recently released report on orphanages in Diyarbakır and Mardin.

In Diyarbakır, 319 children went missing in 2007 and that number increased to 547 in 2010. The commission included reports that 13- and 14-year-old children were being given away as “second wives” and that children were going hungry due to the lack of an allowance.

Local police forces launched nationwide investigations that returned many children reported missing to their families. However, 52 children are still missing. The reasons behind the disappearances were reported as “violence within the family, wandering, marriage, theft, job searching, kidnapping and joining a crime ring.”

Statistics of crimes committed by children in Diyarbakır were also alarming. In 2009, 486 crimes against property by minors were reported, with the number rising to 560 in 2010. Crimes against individuals by minors were reported as 576 in 2009 and 618 in 2010.

The report also pointed out that minors who have committed crimes are housed in orphanages with other children instead of at rehabilitation centers. The report called for a remedy to the problem immediately.

As for orphanages in Diyarbakır, the report said that while a lot of good was being done by these schools, certain limitations stem from insufficient staff and resources. The report said schools must be renewed and classroom sizes must be reduced to benefit the children.

The main problem in this respect is “poor planning,” according to the report. While one school has 20-25 students per classroom, another school one kilometer away has 70 students per classroom.

Another problem the commission encountered was children who sell paper tissues on the streets instead of going to school.

The commission spoke directly to 257 children in Diyarbakır while compiling the report. Forty-three of these children were sent to a treatment center for substance abuse. In addition, four children who had stopped going to school were directed to occupational training classes.

Child brides in Mardin

The report on Mardin also contained red flags. According to the report, children at orphanages were going hungry due to a lack of a basic subsistence allowance.

The report included statements from Deputy Gendarme Commander for Mardin Dursun Aklaya that public pressure prevented them from gathering information from villages. However, information obtained from hospitals indicated that 21 children had been sexually abused due to being married off at a young age.

Mardin Gov. Hasan Duruer was quoted in the report as saying that 13- and 14-year-old girls in the region were being married off and even being given away as “second wives.”