Parliament to investigate increase in child abductions

A group of 25 deputies from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) took the initiative to submit a motion that would establish a committee to look into kidnappings, and the motion has gained the support of all parties’ parliamentary groups. There are no unified figures on the number of children missing in Turkey, but the MHP’s motion cites data from police records, noting that in 2007, 210 children went missing or were kidnapped in Turkey, which rose to 528 in 2008 and to 645 in the first five months of 2009 alone. Despite the figures set forth in the MHP’s motion, the numbers and data provided from different state institutions on missing children do not match up. According to data from the National Police Department, 1,592 children were missing in Turkey as of October 2009; the Prime Ministerial Human Rights Presidency says that for the same period, 641 children are missing. This discrepancy between official figures makes the topic even more difficult to address, and highlights the need for research into the issue.

No matter what the real figure, the motion also mentions the increasing popularity of Internet gaming, asserting that illegal virtual commerce was thought to generate over $1 billion annually and did not receive enough attention from lawmakers. School-age children and youths are easily able to play games online unsupervised, and while most games are free, some require payments in order to obtain characters to use in role playing.

According to the National Police Department, as of October 2009 the provinces with the most children missing were İstanbul (259), İzmir (194), Ankara (106), Mersin (63), Şanlıurfa (57), Diyarbakır (40), Hatay (32), Eskişehir (28), Bursa (26) and Kocaeli (26).

Interagency cooperation to address problem of abductions

In connection with the rise in child disappearances Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has also taken action, directing the Prime Ministerial Family and Social Studies Directorate General to begin a new project to address the issue. The directorate oversaw a special commission composed of representatives of the National Police Department, the Justice Ministry, and the Social Services and Child Protection Agency (SHÇEK). The commission decided to establish a “National Missing Children Information System” to work not only to organize search efforts, but also to increase societal awareness of missing children and provide education and training. The National Police Department decided as part of this venture to establish a special division of expert personnel to work on the problem of increasing disappearances.

Part of the reason for the discrepancy in missing children’s figures is the failure of the National Police Department to inform the Prime Ministry immediately when children are found; additionally, there is no consensus among state institutions on the definition of missing children. The institutions divide missing children’s cases into three categories: those who leave willingly, those who are kidnapped against their will and those who move for reasons having to do with poverty. What worries experts most is the first category of children, who leave of their own will, as they often fall victim to child trafficking, beggary, the organ trade and sexual exploitation.

In 2005 Parliament had established an investigatory commission to look into the conditions of children who worked in the streets and pickpocketing and purse snatching incidents. The recommendations published by this committee resulted in the SHÇEK’s ALO 183 women and children’s issues hotline, and the Prime Ministerial Human Rights Presidency’s ALO 150 tip hotline. The MHP says these measures have been insufficient and that a new commission must be formed.