State Will Protect Children Living and Working on Streets

Justice Minister of Georgia Tea Tsulukiani has told reporters today that the state will protect the children living and working on the streets.

The Minister declared that the state will protect children working on the streets who have no shelter. She continued the Justice Ministry has already prepared a bill, which has been approved at the governmental sitting today.

According to Tsulukiani, the bill incorporates the term “a homeless child”, which will be followed by an array of public services.

“The children living and working on the streets are a pain for both the state and the public. Every child has the right to develop. In cooperation with our partner organizations and relevant Ministries, we have created a package for changes that aims at improving protection of those children living and working on the streets,” the Justice Minster stated.

According to the Minister, as for today, such children are unable to receive documentation and therefore identification of their origins is impossible, including their country, citizenship and birthplace. “That is because the persons responsible for those children do not ask us for assistance and as a result these children remain beyond the process of identification.”

As a result of this reform the government will grant permission to the relevant organizations to take care of these processes and the issues of identification will no longer be dependent on parents or other legitimate persons. 

Photo: Nodar Tskhvirashvili/ RFE/RL