Oproep in Cambodja om einde te maken aan ”weeshuis toerisme”

Bron (The Guardian, 2 januari 2014)

Hieronder een gedeelte van het artikel:

”Child protection and NGO workers are pleading with tourists and volunteers to stay away from orphanages in Cambodia, claiming so-called “orphanage tourism” damages the children and enables exploitation.

The number of Australians visiting Cambodia is increasing, as are the number of orphanages in the country, rising by 75% in the five years to 2011, according to UNICEF. However, most children living in them (about 77%) are not orphans and child protection workers say such institutions should be an absolute last resort.

“Long-term residential care belongs to a state of mind that all the research and progressive practice and best practice and the UN has abandoned a long time ago,” said Luke Gracie, alternative care manager at the NGO Friends International in Phnom Penh.

(...) Visits from tourists and volunteers – known commonly as “orphanage tourism” – lend credibility to institutions and the numbers are increasing.

“It’s a big business in Cambodia,” said Gracie. Friends International frequently campaigns against the practice.

“There are no kinds of checks on these people, they could be predators, they could be anyone,” he said, and it’s putting the kids at risk as well as creating attachment disorders.

“People are coming in, attaching to [the children] and then leaving. It’s highly damaging for the emotional and cognitive development of the kids.

“It’s a dangerous situation, because particularly bad [orphanages] will keep the children and the orphanage looking just pathetic enough in order to illicit sympathy and get donations,” he said.

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Kijk voor meer informatie ook op Think Child Safe

Ook Better Care Network Nederland werkt aan bewustwording rond dit thema. Wij zijn onder andere bezig met de ontwikkeling van richtlijnen voor organisaties die vrijwilligers voor korte tijd uitzenden naar kinderprojecten of die deze projecten aandoen tijdens reizen. Deze worden op 30 januari gepresenteerd aan organisaties in Nederland. Werk je in deze sector en wil je bij de bijeenkomst aanwezig zijn, kijk dan hier. Ook zijn we betrokken bij een internationaal initiatief over ethisch toerisme in relatie tot kinderen.