2013-06-04
Fråga-svar
Egypten. Barnhem.
Fråga
Inkom 2013-05-23
Finns det barnhem i Egypten? Om ja, vilken standard håller dessa barnhem?
Upp till vilken ålder tar barnhemmen emot barn?
Svar
Sammanställning av information:
Ahram Online (2013) rapporterar utförligt om barnhem i Egypten. Alla
barnhem är registrerade och i vissa fall finansierade av ”Ministry of Social
Affairs”. Många barnhem stöds även av privata medel. Arham Online
uppger att standarden på barnhem i Egypten varierar stort, särskilt på de
statliga barnhemmen:
Orphanage Structure
Co-ed orphanages are commonplace in Egypt until the
age of twelve where girls and boys are separated into
single-sex buildings. Some institutions only admit
children of certain faiths or with special needs and
disabilities. Others, like Dar Al-Orman do not specify.
“We currently house around 300 orphans aged between
one week and 17 years old. For those that are
handicapped we have a separate programme and
division," says Farid, insisting that the children that are
not fostered are raised in the orphanage like family.
All Egyptian orphanages are registered with the Ministry
of Social Affairs and in some cases funded by the
Sida 1 av 7
ministry, emphasises Marcelle
administrator at Bent Masr.
Ibrahim,
senior
Although the state funds many orphanages, many are
supported through private and commercial funds.
Donations ensure the provision of food, shelter,
education, healthcare and even marriage dowries and
property lump sums for orphans of marital age.
Such charity is crucial since orphans do not have families
to support them financially.
“Our orphanage functions on civil society donations,
even the villa housing our kids was a donation from a
local land owner who built it especially for this purpose,”
explains Mostafa from Ahbab El-Rahman orphanage,
clarifying that some benefactors give land whilst others
may rent out their premises.
In their case, the villa is legally owned by the orphans for
100 years after which it will return to the land owner’s
family who will decide whether to retain or return it to
the orphans.
Typically in most orphanages in Egypt, trained foster
mothers look after the children and are allocated a salary
in accordance with donations.
Since donations are not a steady source of income
standards, particularly in state orphanages, standards vary
dramatically.
According to UNICEF Egypt has yet to adopt national
minimum standards for children for all types of social
care institutions as per the UN Resolution 2009.
Consequently there are cases such as the 2010 debacle
when Cairo-based orphanage El-Tofoula El-Saida was
shut down after a government committee reported staff
were sexually abusing the children, instances of fraud,
lack of building permits, staff shortages, insufficient
specialised supervisors and the absence of security
guards.
There are also horror stories of parentless children being
forced into prostitution or kidnapped for their organs.
Nevertheless many orphanage administrators like Ahbab
El-Rahman's Mostafa, insist that their staff are constantly
monitored due to the vulnerable position the orphans are
in.
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Farid claims that the government keeps an eye on foster
families. If children are ill-treated in their new homes,
they are sent back to Al-Orman immediately, he adds.
Bent Masr staff disagree, believing that the only way they
can ensure the safety of the children is to look after the
orphans themselves.
"We treat the children like our own children; they are
treated better than they would be if they were raised by
foster parents. That is why Dr Esmat El-Merghani does
not permit the fostering of orphans from Bint Misr,"
insists Anwar.
UN Human Rights Council (2011):
32. The Special Rapporteur also visited shelters for
children at risk of violence and
abuse. In Cairo, the Special Rapporteur visited a private
charity which provides safe
accommodation and a family environment to orphans. At
the time of the visit, it
accommodated 43 children, including eight girls. It is
equipped with a private school,
where children can learn a variety of subjects, such as
literacy, information technology,
religion, and carpentry. In Alexandria, the Special
Rapporteur visited another shelter run by
an NGO, which provides accommodation to street
children. None of the children at these
shelters was reportedly trafficked, although they were
clearly in circumstances which create
risks of being trafficked. (s. 10)
Egypten svarar UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (2010) angående
institutioner för barn som berövats sin familjemiljö. Enligt landets uppgifter
finns det 306 institutioner för föräldralösa barn som tar emot barn över 6 år
och 180 institutioner för barn under 6 år. Pojkar får bo kvar efter 18 års
ålder om de fortsätter en högre utbildning, flickor stannar tills de når
äktenskapsålder:
B. Children deprived of family environment and adoption
(articles 9
(paragraphs 1-4), 20 and 21)
131. Civil status legislation govern the right of the child
to custody and self care
taking into account the best interests of the child when
granting custody. Chapter III of
the Children’s Act (article31 et seq.) regulate the
establishment requirements and role of
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care homes, and are under the supervision of the Ministry
of Social Affairs. As for
alternative care types, they are: (a) the alternative family
system (article46), (b) child
club (article47), (c) social care institutions for children
deprived of family care article
(48) and (d) social insurance benefit. Care institutions
provide shelter for children
between the age of 6 and 18 years who are denied family
care as a result of the death of
the parents, the rupture in family ties or the inability of
the family to look after the child.
A male child may stay at the care institution after the age
of 18 years if he continues his
higher education and the circumstances for his presence
at the institution persist. Girls
stay until they reach the age of marriage. Figures from
the General Administration for
Family and Childhood show that there are 306 care
homes nationwide serving 8,318
children in addition to 180 shelters for the under 6
accommodating nearly 3,584
children. The executive rules and the decisions of the
Minister of Social Solidarity detail
the provisions of alternative care.
132. One of the elements of the work of the Ministry of
Social Solidarity is social care
which covers education, health and leisure. These
services are provided through 306
institutions in 22 provinces using two systems for
orphans. They are:
• Family alternative care
• Institution alternative care
133. The Government maintains a partnership with civil
society organizations in the
management of care institutions. Some projects in the
investment plan are entrusted to
non-profit
organizations
which
benefit
from
Governmental technical support and
secondment of Government staff.
Groups benefiting from social care institutions
• Children of unknown parentage
• Wayward children
• Children lacking care by their natural families (children
of inmates, tuberculoses
patients, mentally handicapped parents and lepers) (s. 36–
37)
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International Bureau for Children’s Rights (2007) uppger att kvaliteten på
de institutioner som “Ministry of Social Affairs” ansvarar för varierar stort
och det tycks saknas ett system för tillsyn av vård, utbildning och skydd för
barn på institutioner:
Abandoned children must be handed to police and the
Ministry of
Social Affairs for registration and referral to appropriate
care.
However, no government statistics are available about the
number of
abandoned children.145 Poverty, limited access to birth
control,146 and
social stigma against children born out of wedlock are all
contributing factors to the number of abandoned children
placed in
institutions.147 According to the Ministry of Social
Solidarity, in 20022003 45% of institutionalised children were placed there
because of
the illness of their guardian or parent, 12% for economic
reasons and
33% because of abandonment.148 The Ministry of Social
Affairs is
responsible for over 174 institutions that provide health,
educational
and vocational services for approximately 6,000
children.149 The
quality of care provided in these institutions varies
greatly150 and there does not seem to be a system to
oversight the health, education
and protection of children in institutions.151 (s. 67–68)
Den belgiska välgörenhetsorganisationen FACE for children in need
(odaterad) beskriver den generella situationen på barnhemmen i Egypten på
sin hemsida. På hemsidan under rubriken ”Projects – FACE Orphanages”
finns även utförlig information om fem barnhem som FACE driver i
Egypten.1 Barnhemmen tar emot barn i olika ålderskategorier och täcker
tillsammans åldrarna 0–18 år:
•Which is the situation of the orphans and the orphanages
in Egypt?
Officially, there are currently 6500 orphans throughout
the 238 legally recognised institutions in Egypt. This
figure is probably higher since certain institutions are not
recognized and sometimes operate illegally.
1
FACE for children in need, “FACE orphanages” >“Maadi orphanage”, Hegazy
orphanage”, “Benha orphanage”, “Obour orphanage”, “Zeitoun orphanage”,
http://www.facechildren.org/en/Maadi-orphanage.htm (Hämtad 2013-06-03).
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The majority of the orphanages are: lacking funds, in
need of renovation, under-equipped and are managed and
staffed by unqualified personnel. Due to the shortage of
nursery carers, the majority of the children miss out on
individual attention, affection and care.
SOS Children’s Villages har enligt hemsidan (odaterad) tre barnbyar i
Egypten: i Alexandria, Kairo och Tanta. För mer information om
barnbyarnas verksamhet och uppbyggnad, antal barn, åldrar m.m.se
webbsidans vänstermeny med rubrikerna: ” Village Background from
Alexandria, Egypt”, ”Village Background from Cairo, Egypt” och ”Village
Background from Tanta, Egypt”:
http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/sponsor-a-child/africa/egypt
Denna sammanställning av information/länkar är baserad på informationssökningar gjorda
under en begränsad tid. Den är sammanställd utifrån noggrant utvalda och allmänt tillgängliga
informationskällor. Alla använda källor refereras. All information som presenteras, med
undantag av obestridda/uppenbara fakta, har dubbelkontrollerats om inget annat anges.
Sammanställningen gör inte anspråk på att vara uttömmande och bör inte tillmätas exklusivt
bevisvärde i samband med avgörandet av ett enskilt ärende.
Informationen i sammanställningen återspeglar inte nödvändigtvis Migrationsverkets
officiella ståndpunkt i en viss fråga och det finns ingen avsikt att genom sammanställningen
göra politiska ställningstaganden.
Refererade dokument bör läsas i sitt sammanhang.
Källförteckning
Ahram online, "Egyptian orphans still suffering on their National Day",
2013-04-05,
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/68132/Egypt/Politics/Egyptian-orphans-still-suffering-on-their-National.aspx (Hämtad 2013-0603)2
FACE for children in need, "Context in Egypt", odaterad,
http://www.facechildren.org/en/Context-inEgypt.htm?PHPSESSID=0c4d6d75fbf1ba3e04be52cc72c1b5cf (Hämtad
2013-06-03)3
FACE for children in need,” FACE orphanages” > “Maadi orphanage”,
Hegazy orphanage”, “Benha orphanage”, “Obour orphanage”, “Zeitoun
2
Factiva om Ahram Online: “News from this English-language site from Al-Ahram, a daily
Egyptian newspaper. Country of origin: Egypt”.
3
Information om organisationen FACE for children in need på deras hemsida: “FACE for
Children in Need is a Belgian charity that works to safeguard children. Its mission is to
assist and protect orphans, street children, their families and communities in Egypt
regardless of race, culture or religion”.
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orphanage”, odaterad, http://www.facechildren.org/en/Maadiorphanage.htm (Hämtad 2013-06-03).
International Bureau for Children’s Rights, Making Children’s Rights Work
in North Africa, 2007-04-03,
http://www.crin.org/docs/CP_North_Africa.pdf (Hämtad 2013-06-03)
SOS Children’s Villages, “SOS Children in Egypt”, odaterad,
http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/sponsor-a-child/africa/egypt
(Hämtad 2013-06-04)
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Consideration of reports
submitted by States parties under article 44 of the Convention; Third and
fourth periodic reports of States parties due in 2007; Egypt, 2010-09-04,
http://www.ecoi.net/file_upload/1930_1303219384_g1041245.pdf (Hämtad
2013-06-03)
UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking
in Persons, Especially Women and Children: Addendum, Mission to Egypt,
2011-04-15, http://www.refworld.org/docid/50f0287c2.html (Hämtad 201306-03)
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