Thousands of children in the region are pushed into forced labour and begging on daily basis, Save the Children, a non-governmental organisation promoting children’s rights warned on Wednesday, June 12, which marks the World Day against Child Labour.

“They rarely or irregularly go to school, their parents or tutors are mostly unemployed, uneducated and with extremely low monthly incomes. Families are highly relying on incomes from raw materials collection, social welfare, begging or selling on streets. Those are the children from dysfunctional families who live in poverty, informal settlement, many are legally invisible, left on their own and exposed to various shapes of exploitation,” the organisation said.

Research shows that those children are facing many difficulties in everyday life. They spend three to nine hours per day on streets regardless of weather conditions and often alone, according to Save the Children.

“Even more of them are in jeopardy of becoming the children involved street life and/or work.”

Save the Children also said that, according to the data collected by Bosnia’s Ministry of Security, 36 potential victims of human trafficking were identified and that they were exposed to various exploitations, mostly begging or sexual abuse.

“Among the potential victims are 24 juveniles and 28 are citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” stressed the activists.