Tel: 011- 2777-291|571|620|522 Fax: 011- 2777-291

research@parliament.lk
Tel: 011- 2777-291|571|620|522 Fax: 011- 2777-291

146th IPU ASSEMBLY & RELATED MEETINGS, MANAMA, BAHRAIN

11th – 15th March 2023

ORPHANAGE TRAFFICKING: THE ROLE OF PARLIAMENTS IN REDUCING

HARM

SPEECH

Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

First and foremost, I wish to express my sincere gratitude for the invitation extended to our
Delegation to participate in this Assembly. It is indeed a great pleasure and priviledge for me
to address this esteemed gathering on the occasion of the 146th IPU Assembly in Manama,
Bahrain. I also wish to extend my deep appreciation to the organizers for their gracious
hospitality. I am glad to address you today on an important topic regarding “ Orphanage
Trafficking: The role of Parliaments in reducing harm”.

Once we hear about the term child rights the first thing that come to our mind is the United
Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), which is the leader in child
protection and inclusion. The UNICEF has played a great role in protecting the child rights
since its establishment. I would like to remind you the profound observation of the United
Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

“Children are not just objects who belong to their parents and for whom decisions are made,
or adults in training. Rather, they are human beings and individuals with their own rights”.

Orphanage trafficking is a new issue with rising concern which is a form of child trafficking in
International Law. I would like to draw your attention to the definition of orphanage trafficking.

1
Orphanage trafficking is where children are recruited into orphanages to be exploited via profit.
To meet the demand, children are recruited or transferred from families for the purpose of
exploitation or profit.
As we all are aware that Parliaments are responsible for legislation, policy oversight and budget
approval, and thus crucial in ensuring an enabling legal and policy environment that is
conducive to ending child related issues such as child labour, slavery, trafficking, violence
against children. Therefore, it is apparent that Parliamentary interventions through an array of
activities are instrumental in combatting child related issues since children are the future
investments of a country. Thus, as Parliamentarians, our collective responsibility as well as
united action is crucial to strengthen and enforce national laws to prevent and prohibit child
labour, trafficking and slavery in line with international and regional human rights standards.
Similarly, the Parliament’s commitment for the amendment of existing laws to remove legal
obstacles is crucial. Parliamentarians have a critical role to play in ensuring there is adequate
budget allocated each financial year towards laws and policies for preventing and mitigating
the effects of child labour, slavery and trafficking. Moreover, Parliamentarians have an
enormous role to play in demanding accountability to existing national, regional and
international commitments made by government towards addressing child labour and
trafficking.

Distinguished Delegates,

Now I draw your attention to share my country’s experience, In Sri Lanka a census was conducted
in 2019 on childcare institutions revealed that there are 379 childcare institutions in Sri Lanka, out
of which 331 are voluntary children’s homes. According to the Census 10,632, children are there
in these childcare institutions. In Sri Lanka also there are cases reported in orphanages on issues
such as child labour, slavery, trafficking and violence against children. However, it is not
identified or used from the term orphanage trafficking. The term orphanage trafficking is not
identified as an offence in Sri Lanka but when children are recruited into orphanages to be
exploited via profit shall be guilty of the offence of trafficking under the section 360c (1).(c)
of the Penal Code (Amendment) Act, No. 16 of 2006.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

2
Though its not exactly covered from the term orphanage trafficking the Parliament of Sri Lanka
has taken various actions to protect children from trafficking. The “National Policy on Child
Protection” formulated in 2019 is a milestone for Sri Lanka. In terms of section 14 (a) of the
National Child Protection Authority Act No. 50 of 1998, the National Child Protection Authority
was vested with powers to formulate this. It provides conceptual framework for covering guidelines
and interventions for preventing violence, exploitation, neglect, delinquency, and all forms of abuse
against children.
Further, with the objective of addressing the issues concerning children of the Country by
liaising with the relevant Ministries, Provincial Councils, Local Government Institutions, UN
Agencies and relevant national and international civil society organizations to achieve a better
tomorrow for children of this country, the Parliamentary Caucus for Children was constituted
in the Seventh Parliament in 2014.
The Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, Department of Probation and Child Care Services,
National Child Protection Authority and Children’s Secretariat are the main institutional bodies
that covers the issues and concerns related to children in Sri Lanka.

To conclude I would I like to say that we should be commited to face the remaining challenges
regarding the rights of the child. We need counselling, child-friendly law enforcement, laws
without delays and child-friendly court systems. We must enact tough laws to eradicate child
labour, child traffiking, child prostitution and violence against children. Further the term
orphanage trafficking should be specifically brought into law as a specific offence so that it
could be more relevant for capturing orphanage trafficking for punishments. As lawmakers, it
is our primary duty to protect our children. Thus, each and every child will get the opportunity
to achieve their fullest potential.

Thank you very much for listening attentively.

Prepared by the Research Division of Parliament of Sri Lanka 01/02/2023