President Ranil Wickramasinghe has instructed the police to take immediate measures to prevent children from being taken to parades.
The President points out that using children as shields to take them to parades is also a serious offense according to the law of the country.
The President gave these instructions while joining the special discussion held at the President’s Office this morning (12) on the protection of children’s rights and the protection of children’s human rights.
Steps were also taken to assign the responsibilities of child protection to the Sri Lanka Police and child rights protection institutions.
President Ranil Wickramasinghe emphasized the need for an Act to protect children’s rights against the use of children for sexual activities and to protect the human rights of children.
The President drew attention to the detention of the children who were among the people who were arrested for illegally migrating to India, separated from their parents and informed that it should be rectified immediately and arrangements should be made to place the children with their parents.
The President paid special attention to the education of children in orphanages and the protection of their rights and asked the officials to identify the children with special needs in the orphanages and submit a report on it.
The President pointed out the need to provide formal training to the guardians who are in charge of children’s homes and said that by doing so, the problematic situations faced by the children can be avoided.
“Government shall make special efforts to promote the welfare of children and youth to ensure their full development physically, mentally, morally, religiously and socially, and to protect them from exploitation and discrimination. .” Recalling the facts under sub-section 13 of Article 27 of the Constitution, the President emphasized that protecting children is the prime responsibility of a government.
Minister of State for Women and Children’s Affairs Mrs. Geeta Kumarasinghe and President’s Secretary Mr. Saman Ekanayake and government officials of line institutions were present in this discussion.
