Mobile crews of the Ministry of Family and Social Services have taken some 30,000 children off the streets in the past two years across the country. The ministry pursues efforts to save children forced to beg and other work on the street by adults while also aiming to boost their schooling rate. A total of 1,103 children were enrolled at schools after being saved from a lifetime of child labor. The ministry also sheltered 642 children at risk in its care homes for children while legal action was taken against the families of 1,138 children who forced their children to work.
Children begging or forced to sell water, paper tissues and other petty items on the streets are common sights in big cities. Gangs often exploit the orphaned children while in some cases, families themselves force their children who are of schooling age to beg. Turkey has a national program in place against child labor, which also covers children who are illegally employed by some businesses. The issue is most common among disadvantaged communities.
The ministry increased the number of mobile crews who comb the streets for beggar children and other disadvantaged minors to 314 and the practice is now implemented in all 81 provinces, rather than focusing only on big cities. Crews take the children to care homes where they can attend school as well and, if the children are forced to work because no other members of their household are able to earn a living, their families are included in social service programs, which financially support them. More than 8,000 families benefit from these services.
Families of more than 16,000 children benefited from counseling services for vocational education for their children, drug treatment for underage addicts and other services. Children enrolled at schools are also monitored to prevent them from dropping out again.
