A 15 year old girl coming from Africa indicates to the immigration officer that she was a witness to her parents being killed and that her brothers and sisters have disappeared. Afterwards, she is recognized as a refugee. She is currently working full time to help some of her brothers and sisters who have been found. (Peel Children's Aid Society) For further information: we invite you to consult the following folders:
Arrangements are made for an 8 year old girl upon her arrival by a man claiming to be her uncle. The child disappears and when she is found, she is entrusted to the authorities under youth protection. They suspect that this child had been a trafficking victim after noticing physical lesions on her body. After carrying out an investigation, she has returned to China to be with her family. (Peel Children's Aid Society)
Separated children are removed from everything that they know and are accustomed to. They find themselves without a home, family, and friends in a country where they are required to learn a different language and culture. A lot of these children suffer from emotional, education and economical deficiencies. They are particularly vulnerable to trafficking, sexual exploitation and forced labour.
Many of these children have experienced or have witnessed violence, maltreatment, torture, physical abuse and sexual exploitation. Some of them have assisted, powerless, in the killing of their parents. It is important to note the presence of psychological trauma within these children.
In facing this reality, intervention workers regret the absence of registries that allow accounting for and following up with separated children once they arrive on Canadian territory. They also equally deplore the detention of any separated child and the difficulties encountered during their care. Too often no one holds parental authority in regards to these children. Professionals, among other things, claim a better collaboration between the federal government and provincial youth protection agencies in order to assure that all decisions are made in the child's best interest.
Issues
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