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[ISLAMABAD, 1 January 2011] - The year 2010 saw a sharp increase in child abduction cases throughout the country as Karachi alone reported 2,582 cases of missing children in the year. A statement issued by the Child Rights Legal Centre (CRLC) says that the cases of abduction and murder of children have been reported from all parts of the country. The CRLC has been monitoring child rights violations as reported in the newspapers for the year 2010. The statement says that besides the cases of corporal punishments, child sexual abuse, murders and rape and sodomy, child abductions stood out as one of the new trends in child rights violations in Pakistan. It mentions that Pakistan is among the top five most dangerous countries in the world for kidnap and ransom with incidents in the mid to high hundred each year according to the estimate from Global Security Firm Red 24. Expressing concern over the rising numbers of child abduction in the country, CRLC Executive Director Qindeel Shujat said: “Recently there has been a spate of child kidnapping for ransom and resulting in the death of some of the children. Besides ransom children are also being kidnapped by the terrorists to augment their financial resources and to add more children to the growing army of suicide bombers.” Rapid assessments and studies carried out by the non-governmental organisations revealed that child abduction was on the rise in Karachi, Peshawar and Sukkur. According to the CRLC the average age of abducted children ranged from 3 to 14 years. It also needs mention that newborn babies (infants) in number of cases have been kidnapped from the premises of hospitals. Abduction or kidnapping of a child is a traumatic experience both for the parents and the child victim. There have been incidents of relatives and friends who have kidnapped children and schoolmates to make easy money. Abduction is a criminal offence in Pakistan. The pain is made worse when there is no support and help from the law enforcing agencies, which are supposed to provide protection to the children especially in cases of abduction and demands of ransom. There is no denying that police are responsible for the safety and security of the people, but have failed in doing so. In most cases the culprits are not caught even after ransom was paid resulting in the murder of the kidnapped victim. “The kidnapping of a female student from a premier missionary school in July of this year exposed the poor security arrangements and lack of monitoring in school and colleges especially in the wake of prevailing threat of terrorism”, said Safia Khan, research officer at the CRLC. The Child Rights Legal Centre urged the government to immediately look into the matter and take appropriate measures to control the abduction of children. “The government must institute a system within police stations so that child kidnapping can be controlled.” Further Information: South Asia: Stepping up child protection - an assessment of child protection systems [Save the Children Sweden, Regional Office for South and Central Asia, 9 September 2010] More on child rights in Pakistan