Call to be proactive in protecting child rights

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: No State should make a distinction between native children and migrants in protecting child rights, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) Chairperson Shantha Sinha said here on Sunday.

Delivering the keynote address at a seminar on �Overall picture of children in Kerala: emerging issues and challenges, organised by the Kerala Mahila Samakhya Society, Ms. Sinha said every State had the responsibility to protect the rights and interests of migrant children also.

�We are not citizens of a State but of this country. All States should proactively intervene to ensure the welfare of children. This also includes taking appropriate measures to repatriate migrant children, she said.

Protection of child rights should not be a debatable issue and that authorities must take an uncompromising stance to ensure their protection, she said.

Speaking on the issue of child abuse by tourists and exploitation of children at tourist destinations, Ms. Sinha said the issue had come to the notice of the Commission. The Commission would communicate its concerns to the authorities concerned.