Human Rights advocacy
In search of a free life……..
 She is Tine, a lively but profound looking young girl, accompanying us through out our visit to the Social Welfare-run shelter home in Pubail, Gazipur. She was walking along with me behaving like a guide, and continuously talking about her life, perhaps trying to draw my attention. 'Apa' she addressed me with honour …'this is our bedroom', she pointed out at the long tin shed house (having the accommodation for approximately 30 people) …..' we have four such sheds where all of us stay. 'I gave a quick look at the place, more then 50 inmates are staying in this block, I noticed few mothers who were expecting and ¾ women with their kids. The room is a bit dark but it has electricity, ceiling fan , and one television. Then we walked through a passage and found a room of size 20x 15 feet approximately, this is the “Dining Hall” . Today's menu is lentil broth rice and vegetables. Tine added “Here we take our meal together', … then she started to laugh and added that may be we die together too. "I turned to her bluntly, “...yes Apa, she started to narrate her story again… “we are here for year after year, do not know why and when we will be able to return to our family! .. I lost my parents' address, do not know where they are now. We want to go home! Desperately want to return to our sweet home, some inmates tried to escape from here, some were caught red handed… some managed to flee. Will you do some thing for us?" Her appeal drew my attention …. I turned to her but couldn't find any word to say. We ended our visit and returned to Dhaka but still I recall Tine's appeal for going home.
Like Tine, approximately 300 women, adolescent and children are staying in the Social Welfare run shelter home in Pubail and Kasimpur. With limited resource, the shelter home is providing three daily meals (Tk. 25 is per day allocation for each inmate), two sets of cloths, special meal on special days. We unfortunately discovered that, although there is no specific case against the inmates/ people living in the shelter home, most of them have been arrested under the Bengal Vagrancy Act, 1943.
Bengal Vagrancy Act, 1943 states that …"vagrant" means a person not being of European extraction found asking for alms in any public place, or wandering about or remaining in any public place in such condition or manner as makes it likely that such person exists by asking alms but does not include a person collecting money or asking for food or gifts for a prescribed purpose. [Art-1(10)]
While talking to the shelter home inmates, it was revealed that they are not vagrant people. In a common practice, the floating prostitutes are also caught under the Act. It was reported that they were caught during mass arrest/ drive, in the cities. To our knowledge, some of them used to work as domestic help. So there are some ambiguity on the definitions of vagrant and the status of the inmates who were in shelter home under this act. It is further noted that according to the Act, the Manager of a vagrants' home shall use his best endeavours to obtain outside the vagrants' home suitable employment for vagrants detained therein. (Art-17). But it was learnt from the inmates that the scope of employment is very rare.
The Act also deals with the provisions of discharging vagrants, like, if s/he obtained satisfactory employment or possessed/earned satisfactory amount for his/her living may be discharged under Manager's supervision. But the word satisfactory is not defined and that creates hindrance in the discharging process.
What needs to be done?
An in-depth profile of the inmates living in the shelter home needs to be prepared to know more about them. It is obvious that a short visit like this couldn't reveal in-depth information but what we feel by studying the laws and from a brief conversation with the inmates that the arrest of these young girls from street under Vagrancy Act is not justified and there should be some effective steps to discharge the inmates… as there is no justification for keeping people under the home for no specific charge!
Initiative by The Daywalka Foundation
The Daywalka Foundation (TDF), an international organisation with the cooperation from G/TIP and IOM is providing specific support to the women in the shelter home. A MoU has been signed recently between TDF and the Director General Department of Social Welfare. Among others, Regional Representative IOM was present at the signing ceremony.
Under this agreement, TDF will provide free medical treatment including emergency transport/services, cost of medicine and limited hospital care. Besides, through its partner, TDF will also train the inmates on life skills and personal hygiene issues and engage the inmates in recreational and creative activities. However, the activities that we will be doing is only putting the ointments on the rash not curing the rash itself! So we need to work with the civil society group, legal experts and media to sensitise the policy makers about the law, to embark on reform, if needed, so that girls like Tina can go home ! Human rights talk about dignity and freedom. Inmates in the shelter homes may have three times meal but they are not free and they don't have full control over their money, what they earned. We should transfer skills and create such environment so that they can go home, start new life of their own choice.
Resource Centre, The Daywalka Foundation.
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