An all-out operation is now underway to remove children from the streets of Lautoka and Suva, said Fiji Police Force chief operations officer Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Livai Driu after a meeting in Lautoka yesterday.
He said the police had orders from the Prime Minister and the Attorney-General to pick up street dwellers, and that included children, and work with stakeholders to see how they could be rehabilitated.
ACP Driu said they had already sent 19 children back to their villages in Suva with 120 kids profiled – here in Lautoka we have profiled 20 children.
“We are going to form a task force and we are also profiling them on their backgrounds and where they are from,” he said.
“This problem can be solved because the children have a family and we have to find the family.
“This is going to a holistic government approach where shelters will be provided for the kids to move into where they will get the training to become better citizens.
“Here in the West, it is much easier to track the children and move them into rehabilitation.”
Assistant Minister for Women, Children and Social Protection, Sashi Kiran said many institutions have come forward to assist them.
“We aim to provide shelter to all street dwellers, provide rehabilitation services and provide skills and livelihood support to ensure our most vulnerable are not put at risk on the streets in these weather conditions.”
The Fiji Higher Education Commission has also come on board to assist by arranging for TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) courses for those children being removed from the streets.
