Caritas Egypt, a civil society in Alexandria working in field of homeless children care, has been accused by some social work leaders in Alexandria of turning into a "den for deviation" using children to get donations and grants. MP Saber Abul Fotouh has sublimed a request for notification to Social Solidarity Minister Ali Meselhi on the spread of unlicensed civil societies that provide homes for homeless young boys and girls. He said none of these societies are under official control. Abul Fotouh said Caritas Egypt eggs children to do improper things, such as encourage girls to drop out of schools and train females on how to avoid pregnancy during sex. He said Caritas Egypt's budget is up to €113 million. Nadia Hamad, chairwoman of an orphans care society, said she canceled her partnership contract with Caritas Egypt when the latter wanted her to practice dubious acts. "The partnership contract with Caritas Egypt was meant to protect young females who are vulnerable to danger. But I was taken aback when Caritas Egypt insisted on registering the pregnant females, married and unmarried mothers without data or documents. It also asked me not to tell the official bodies of their names and information." "When I said that there were pregnant females among them, they said they are preparing a place to take care of their children," Hamad noted. "I submitted a complaint to the Social Solidarity Directorate in Alexandria on Caritas Egypt's activity. The Directorate, however, said it has no authority on Caritas EgyptAlexandria branch," she said. "One of my powerful reasons to doubt the society's activities is that it addresses foreign sides," Hamad added. The fact that this society receives schoolchildren during schooldays is an encouragement for those students to drop out of school. Suad Mohamed Ali, former supervisor in one of Caritas Egypt affiliated centers, said she noticed serious violations of the main goals of the society among homeless children like drug-taking, possession of cold steels and doing obscene things in toilets. A Caritas Egypt supervisor, Ayaat Abdel Hamid, said word spread about AIDS, gonorrhea and obscene things among children, but everything is kept under cover. Caritas Egypt workers are not specialists. Most of them hold no educational qualifications and have nothing to do with kids' caretaking. However, they host a group of homeless children for some hours during the day at the accommodation house and give them clothes and meals, then let them go. Hussam Mohamed Hassan, 14, who visits Caritas Egypt accommodation centers frequently, said, "I left home for my father's harsh treatment. I met a supervisor who got close to me, asked me about my problem and promised to solve it. Then he took me to the society headquarters. I met some other guys like me there. Our relation got stronger. We always visit the society." "Nobody in the society offered to help me get back home. They have been asking me and others to bring more children to the society. They pay LE10 per child. They used to leave us free to do whatever we want," Hassan added. Some civil societies use children for certain goals that match their agenda, said the societies' federation top official, Hesham Gabreel. But what's more dangerous is the building of networks for child trafficking, he added. The cause behind homeless child abuse is the absence of any control or supervision from official bodies. These societies exploit the pressures of negligence and poverty. Accommodation centers are useless or even have become producing more homeless children because they receive school dropouts and merger them with homeless children, he said. The problem of homeless children in Egypt is a time bomb expected to explode anytime because it poses a threat to the economic and social structure amid the absence of any anti-child trafficking legislation, said Ali Galabi, sociology professor.
