P. A. Chacko S. J.
It is a sad fact that many children, who are supposed to enjoy a happy childhood, go missing.
Reports say, in India 96,000 children are missing on an annual count. Nearly 70 % are girls.
All over the world, a few million children below age 18 go missing.
The reasons reported are: children running away from home, parents abandoning them, kidnapping, loss of parents in times of war, abducting children for child sex, beggary, illicit drug trafficking, sale of body organs, etc.
While many are traced, many more may have been lost forever.
During the ongoing war of Israel in Gaza, 19,000 children were killed by bombing. Many children are missing or separated from their parents. In Ukraine or in Syria, or wherever wars are being fought, children are the worst victims.
In case of missing children, governments have the primary duty to trace the children. Also the governments or world organisations should identify the causes and tackle them through effective monitoring and planned action.