Though the Central Methodist Church may not be a suitable place for children alone, refugees there have built up friendships and shouldnt be moved straight away, says childrens guardian Ann Skelton.JOHANNESBURG – Unaccompanied children staying at the Central Methodist Church should be allowed to stay there, but qualified staff should be brought in to help them, says the human rights lawyer appointed legal guardian to the children.
Ann Skelton, advocate at the University of Pretorias Centre for Child Law, has released a comprehensive report on their welfare.
Her report says the children should not have been allowed to gather at the church, which was not suitable for children and not registered as a shelter. The children should be moved to a suitable place when one was identified.
But Skelton also noted that the children had established a strong bond between themselves and with other adults at the church and recommended that they should not be moved or separated for now. She said they had resisted some attempts to move them because of these bonds.
She did, though, recommend that qualified personnel be appointed and the church be registered as a shelter.
Skelton also asked the provincial director of public prosecutions to assess some cases of child abuse reported by the headmaster at the school.
Her report blamed the government of South Africa for not helping the children from the outset. She said there had to be efforts to ensure the children got documents so that they were not left stateless. She also recommended they be given the papers they needed to have the same rights as the permanent residents.
Children doing advanced and ordinary level should be allowed to complete their studies, while others could attend South African schools later on, said the report.
The Department of Social Development was asked to seek United Nations technical assistance to deal with the refugee issues and documentation, especially for 150 children in Musina shelters.
Last year, the children resisted attempts by the Gauteng Department of Social Development to move them; some of them jumping out of the classroom windows. Some also refused when some social workers came for them at the Central Methodist Church. Dr Paul Verryn was then suspended for approaching the courts asking for a guardian to be appointed.
Verryn told The Zimbabwean that there were 70 unaccompanied children staying in Soweto and 90 per cent were from Zimbabwe.
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