President Ranil Wickramasinghe pointed out that taking children as shields to protests is a serious offense according to the country’s law and instructed the Sri Lanka Police to take immediate measures to prevent the taking of children to protests.
President Ranil Wickramasinghe gave these instructions while joining the special discussion held at the President’s Office yesterday (12) morning on the protection of children’s rights and the protection of children’s human rights.
Steps were also taken to assign the responsibilities of child protection to the Sri Lanka Police and child rights protection institutions.
President Ranil Wickramasinghe emphasized the need for an Act to protect children’s rights against the use of children for sexual activities and to protect the human rights of children.
The President drew attention to the detention of the children who were among the people who were arrested for illegally migrating to India, separated from their parents and informed that it should be rectified immediately and arrangements should be made to place the children with their parents. The President also paid special attention to the educational activities of the children in orphanages and protecting their rights and asked the officials to identify the children with special needs in the orphanages and submit a report on it.
The President pointed out the need to provide formal training to the guardians who are in charge of children’s homes and said that by doing so, the problematic situations faced by the children can be avoided.
Minister of State for Women and Children’s Affairs Geeta Kumarasinghe and President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake and government officials of line institutions were present in this discussion.
