QCOSTARICA — Every week, the Policia Municipal de San Jose (San Jose Municipal Police) detect dozens of children begging in the streets of the capital city, many of them accompanied by their families.
This problem had been solved before the pandemic, more than two years ago, due to an arduous effort undertaken by the municipality, state institutions and NGOs. However, now at many intersections, traffic lights and in areas where there is heavy traffic, children are seen begging for food or money.
“There are some events that were previously absent in the city have reoccurred, including the emergence of children living on the streets. Two years ago we had the first waves of Venezuelans, when we had minors on the streets of San José. Once again, we have a large number of children, many of them accompanied by their families who are begging,” commented Marcelo Solano, director of the San José Municipal Police.
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The Patronato Nacional de la Infancia (PANI) – National Children’s Trust – confirms that the institution’s Guidance and Information Center received in the past year some 837 incidents involving minors on the streets.
From January to May of this year, the PANI has received 30,732 calls about situations that violate rights and, of those, 138 about children wandering the streets.
“We have organized through the Municipal Emergency Committee (CME) the help and assistance provided by NGOs so that it is aimed at facilitating this population’s path to the north and not at facilitating their stay in the country because that entails a series of costs, as well as organizations for which perhaps we could not have capacity if the number of people who remain in the country adds up by thousands,” Solano said.
The last case occurred last Friday, when the San José Municipal Police found a two-year old, alone and in diapers, sleeping on bundles of garbage bags on the sidewalk.
The minor was found in the early hours of the morning in the community of Cristo Rey, near the Obras del Espíritu Santo Association.
Although the government does not have figures to quantify how many of these minors are migrants, the information available indicates that the majority of children come from other countries and are in Costa Rica as part of their migratory journey.
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In other parts of San José the same situation is being experienced: families with small children are seen on the street, lying on the ground and in need while they look for ways to continue the journey to the United States.
The number of migrants with children asking for money on the streets of San José grows
Although the PANI has warned migrants not to expose their minor children to risks such as asking for money on the streets, this situation is occurring with increasing frequency in the streets of the capital city.
A few months ago the decrease in the number of Venezuelan migrants and other nationalities in transit through Costa Rica was notable. However, in recent weeks, they have once again been seen begging on the streets and traffic lights of San José, many for hours with small children.
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