COP17.....Street Kids

At this time  COP17 climate change talks, are taking place in Durban, South Africa. I had never heard of COP17 until my daughter mentioned it. This is what I have found about it....

'Essentially it is a political meeting; a negotiating forum. Most world governments have accepted the scientific evidence that global warming is happening, mainly as a result of humans burning fossil fuels that produce greenhouse gases. COP17 is the 17th annual meeting when world governments get together to negotiate tackling climate change. COP stands for Conference of the Parties, the parties being the 195 nations that signed the United Nations Convention on Climate Change.'

I am sure this is interesting to some...but at this moment my thoughts are on something else that my daughter has told me about that is going on in Durban as a result of this conference.

Street children, some very young, who have found themselves orphaned or abandoned or who have simply run away from a life of horror, have now been 'kidnapped' by the police, driven out into the bush and left there. Why? Below is a quote from a SA newspaper which will explain.

'The paper quoted the city's metro police spokesman Eugene Msomi saying all begging streetchildren and adults would be rounded up because they mugged tourists.

"We often remove them from the streets when there are big events like the World Cup and major conferences, because some of them mug tourists and damage the image of the country," he said."You find that tourists are unfamiliar with the area and would be intimidated and even mugged by these street beggars."The United Nations Climate Change conference (COP17) will be held at Durban's Inkosi Albert Luthuli convention centre from November 28 to December 9. The conference is expected to attract 20 000 delegates.'

When ever my daughter is able, she drives down to the city and visits a homeless shelter. She said many of the children who live there have been taken away and this happens each time something big happens in the city. She posted about this on Facebook and her friend in Denmark who said the COP17 is huge in her country, contacted the News program who in turn called my daughter in SA and interviewed her live on the radio today. Hopefully this will bring to light what is happening. What is the point in being concerned about the environment if we cant show love and concern for those for whom it was created ?