NEPAL: THE CHILD SLAVES OF KATMANDU | Reportage | Arte

Half of the population of Nepal is under 18 and nearly 40%?around 12 million?are under 16, the age of civil majority. Around 8 million children, in the 5-16 age range, are active and working in dangerous conditions. Slaving in mines, surrounded by chemicals and pesticides or working hazardous agricultural machinery. Or, ever present yet invisible, toiling as domestic workers, behind factory walls, out of sight. Economic exploitation, ill treatment, abandon. According to UNICEF estimates some 130,000 Nepalese children survive in deplorable conditions. In the valley of Katmandu, a poor rural region, some 140 brickyards exploit children as soon as they are old enough to carry bricks. There’s no question of going to school. Housed in mud huts the children slave away every day during the dry season. In Katmandu, Rakesh, 11, is lucky enough to have a godfather, who pays for his schooling, uniform and books. Even though attending school, he is not just any normal boy. He collects plastic and cardboard in the tourist district of Tamel, braving danger and violence. Rotney, 12, is a gang leader and lives from stealing, robbing tourists. He sniffs glue and gets into fights. Exhausted by their bare survival conditions where despair and violence go hand in hand, the children find some refuge in “drop-in centres”. A fleeting respite before returning to the street. Our crew, with Adrien, a French expatriate from the Association Pomme-Canelle as guide, followed Rakesh, Rotney and their companions in misfortune.