Ministry cracks down in orphans scandal
The Ministry of Social Affairs has decided to reintegrate more than 3,000 children in orphanages back into families after discovering the abysmal conditions of many facilities, with some having reported sexual abuse. The announcement, which was made during the launch of the Mapping of Residential Care Facilities and Action Plan for Improving Child Care, said that 3,500 children from five priority provinces will be sent home to reduce the negative impacts they often face growing up in residential care. “The children are now in the centers because of poverty so the centers help take care of them, help them get educated,” Social Affairs Minister Vong Soth said. “However we checked some centers and found out that they are not fulfilling their roles and were merely created as an excuse to achieve arbitrary targets.
