Over 35,000 kids still in care
A staggering 35,000 Cambodian children and young people continue to be housed in a range of residential care facilities, with many of them flying under the government’s radar, according to a new report released by the Ministry of Social Affairs on April 20. The report marks a crucial step in the government’s efforts to put a stop to the proliferation of orphanages, which have been dogged by claims of child abuse and profiting by marketing impoverished children as tourist attractions. However, even by the report’s own reckoning, those efforts have a long way to go. Almost 40 percent of residential care institutions have never been inspected by the Ministry of Social Affairs, 12 percent are unregistered and more than 20 percent did not have a memorandum of understanding with the government, the study found.
