The sight of small children at traffic lights selling various items is now common in our cities. Different views have been expressed about the phenomenon. A recent article mentioned the nationality of the children and the type of goods they sell, focusing on the negative side.
Why assume that organized gangs are behind these children and force them onto the streets in this inhuman way? Why do we ignore any other possible motives and considerations?
We expect these children to have families; surely they do but perhaps their parents are unable to provide them with basic needs. Their father may be dead and the mother has sorrowfully allowed her oldest child to work in order to feed the family.
I do not deny the possibility of gangs being behind these children and I cannot say I am absolutely sure the children are feeding their families. While not ruling out either possibility, I favor the second: it is poverty and destitution which has driven these children onto the streets.
The article also mentioned Saudi children doing similar work — selling goods in the street. The question is whether they would be doing this work if they were not forced to. Would their parents agree to their children doing this work if there were not unusual and extraordinary circumstances?
If we are talking about non-Saudis, we should ask whether the parents of those children have come to this country as contract workers or to pursue other activities such as forcing their children into this kind of work.
We also must admit that instead of begging and becoming a burden to society, these families have chosen to send their children out on the street to sell things. These families may be poor but they have chosen to preserve some dignity by selling something rather than simply begging.
21 July 2002
