Bosnia Struggles to Address Child Begging Problem

Over the course of the past year, police in Sarajevo registered nearly 1,000 cases of begging by people who had already committed the same offence more than once, including children. Figures for repeat offenders for the whole of Bosnia were even higher.

According to the Sarajevo Cantonal Social Work Centre, at least 76 of the offences registered in the city in the first ten months of last year were committed by children, while 19 cases were suspected to have been related to an organised begging network which used children to solicit cash on the streets.

One teenage girl recalled how her family forced her to beg, and if she failed to bring home 20 Bosnian marks (about 10 euros) each day, she would be beaten up.

“My mum and brother used to buy food and alcohol for dad using the money I brought home. I decided to flee with my younger brother and a cousin,” the girl told the International Forum of Solidarity – EMMAUS, a charity which offered her a safe house.

The criminal law in the Sarajevo Canton envisages fines ranging from 400 to 1,200 Bosnian marks (around 200 to 600 euros) for a parent or guardian who forces a minor to beg. Similar fines are levied in Bosnia’s Serb-dominated entity, Republika Srpska.

Minors who are forced to beg on the streets often work at busy crossroads as ‘squeegee merchants’, offering to wash car windscreens.

“It is more difficult for police, particularly those in uniform, to take action against so-called windshield washers, because they work at crossroads and, when they see a police vehicle, they try to flee, not paying attention to their own safety or the safety of others in the traffic,” Irfan Nefic, a spokesperson for the Sarajevo Canton’s Interior Ministry, told BIRN.

“There are often small children among them. As well as ‘washing’ windshields, they also beg. When we notice minors doing these things, we send officers dressed in civilian clothing in order to protect those children, feed them and sanction their parents,” Nefic said.

Children pressurised

Nefic explained that it was very difficult to collect evidence on organised begging involving minors because children are often pressurised by adults to change their stories.

“When we file a report on a crime that has been committed and when the case comes to court, it is very hard to prove it, because statements are withdrawn,” he said.

Nefic added that when it comes to combatting street begging – especially cases which involve minors – social services, with help from the police, can remove the children from the streets and put them in daycare centres, where they are offered meals as well as various educational and entertainment programmes.

“In the meantime, the police try to find their parents, guardians or adoptive families in order to determine their responsibility. In some situations, parents say: ‘I sent him to buy a loaf of bread, I know nothing about it.’ Even if a person is fined for a misdemeanour, fines are rarely paid,” he said.

Mirsada Poturkovic, an associate expert at the Sarajevo Social Work Centre, said it was difficult to obtain facts proving that children have been forced into begging as part of an organised money-making scheme.

“If there are facts indicating that the life or health of a child is endangered, the Centre decides to take the children and provide them with other accommodation for 60 days. If the Centre does not register that the suspicion of organised begging or labour exploitation exists, but [that the begging is a result of] a difficult financial situation, we [send] a warning [to the child’s family],” Poturkovic said.

If the parents fail to respect the warning, Poturkovic said that the Centre is able to ask the court to allow it to supervise the parents or take away their children.

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[quote font=”times”][/quote]Adult beggars: sanctions and support

In Sarajevo Canton, fines for adult beggars range from 300 to 900 Bosnian marks (150 to 450 euros). If someone has committed the offence more than once, a court can order a stricter penalty. “Police cannot physically remove them from the streets. What police can do is march them into the police station if they have no personal identification documents with them. They can be kept for a maximum of 12 hours or until their identity has been determined,” said Nefic. “Citizens often expect us to remove them from the streets, but, technically, we cannot do it,” he added. The Ministry for Labour and Social Policy said that the Social Work Centre assesses adult beggars and decides accommodation, financial support or other assistance. “These people are provided accommodation at a reception point within the Gerontology Centre, where they can stay temporarily but not longer than 30 days. In that period we work on their long-term placement in an appropriate social care institution, if they want it,” the Ministry told BIRN. “Unfortunately, a certain number of them leave the reception centre arbitrarily soon after being received, refusing to cooperate with the Centre in solving the problems that they face,” it added.[/box][/quote]

Federal prosecutor Hajrija Hadziomerovic-Muftic told BIRN that in cases of organised begging or the exploitation of minors, the key issue is to take a proper statement from the child.

“The problem lies in the fact that the law only allows two statements to be taken from each child. We should therefore be careful when taking statements from children. A person taking a statement from a child must be careful and well-prepared in order to wangle good evidence and [get] a verdict,” Hadziomerovic-Muftic said.

Judges and prosecutors must be trained to do this and should not put in charge unless they are qualified to deal with children, she insisted.

Parental problems
The Sarajevo Canton’s Ministry of Labour, Social Policy, Displaced Persons and Refugees said that a service has been set up to offer protection for homeless and vulnerable children.

Ismira Hadzic, who heads the service, told BIRN that a child is placed in the institution when a mobile team finds the child begging on the streets after having warned the parents several times. After that the Cantonal Social Work Centre evaluates whether the child should remain there full-time or part-time.

“Children are involved in educational activities. If they do not attend school, we contact their families to get approval for their enrolment. If the family does not provide the approval, we inform the Social Work Centre accordingly,” Hadzic said.

Poturkovic said that statistics indicate that the number of children begging on streets is decreasing, but that in some families, it is a generational issue.

“In our interactions with these families, the parents often say: ‘But we did that as well. We did for our parents what our children do for us. When they have their families, their children will do that as well,’” she explained.

In theory, families with no income have the right to use public kitchens offering free meals, as well as to obtain grants for heating and one-off or permanent financial support.

But in practice, it is difficult to implement all of this, as some poor families do not even have homes with heating.

In order to get monetary support, they must also prove they do not have financial resources or relatives who could help them, as well as that they are not capable of working.

However, according to experts, the majority of them are capable of working.

“I do not know whether a law will ever be adopted that would enable these people to fulfil their right to continuous financial support, but I think it is one of the factors that would surely eliminate children begging due to poverty from the streets,” Poturkovic said.

Sarajevo police spokesperson Nefic suggested that begging could also be reduced if people give less money to children asking for coins on the streets.

“We are aware that our citizens have good intentions and want to help those in need, but the money they give to these individuals would be much more useful if donated to a public kitchen offering free meals, institutions caring for sick people or people with special needs, or humanitarian societies,” Nefic argued.

The Ministry of Labour, Social Policy, Displaced Persons and Refugees argued however that as long as parents force their children into begging, the problem is likely to continue, whatever initiatives are launched to address the problem.