As trains prepare to leave the Kamlapur Railway Station, children often scurry around the top, jumping from one compartment to another. Once those trains begin to gather steam, they make their way down. A fleeting moment of joy passes, and the platforms beneath await.
But these platforms, benches and open spaces are not just part of the capital's busiest railway station. For these children, this is home.
Last Friday, more than 30 children were seen sleeping in various parts of the platform; in open spaces near the ticket counters, near the tracks, or in some other space they had deemed secure enough.
Joint research conducted by the Ministry of Social Welfare and UNICEF in 2024, revealed that there are as many as 3.4 million homeless children in Bangladesh living without parental care.
Many don't even know who their parents are. Some said they fled home to escape unbearable torture from family members. Others don't even know exactly how they got there.
Alamin, 12, told Stream that he escaped from a children's care centre in Tangail in 2022.
"They used to torture me every day and I never got enough food. After my father's death, my mother admitted me there. She later remarried and left Tangail. I don't know where she is now."
Another homeless child, 10-year-old Hasib, said he had been living on the platforms at the Kamlapur Railway Station for the past 5-6 years.
Further complicating the situation of such children is the fact that they have no way to access social and legal rights since an overwhelming majority do not possess birth certificates.
According to BBS projections, there were as many as 16 lakh homeless children without birth certificates by the end of 2024.
Although the law allows children to register for birth certificates without explicitly requiring information about their parents, authorities have not done enough to ensure that is the case in reality.
This correspondent visited various spots around the capital and spoke to 21 homeless children to find out more.
Of them, 12 were between the ages of 6-12, five were 13-17, and four were less than five years old.
Asked about birth certificates, most said they had never heard of it before. "No one ever explained its importance," one child said. A total of 16 of the children did not know who their parents were.
In Karwan Bazar, around 25 families were seen living in flimsy shelters made with tarpaulin sheets near the Tejgaon leve; crossing. Most of the families had multiple children, but none of them had birth certificates.
Bureaucratic hurdles leading to a denial of human rights
Supreme Court Lawyer Barrister Solaiman Tushar told Stream that child labour, trafficking, child marriage, and criminal prosecution as adults pose serious risks to those without birth certificates.
He believes a birth certificate is not just paperwork, but a document reaffirming one's dignity and protection.
"This denial of legal recognition is effectively a denial of their human right to identity, protection, and equality before the law," he said.
In June, 2022, a petition was filed in the High Court demanding the birth registration of 1.6 million homeless children nationwide. On 30 June that year, the High Court directed the government to submit a report on the steps taken to issue birth certificates to all homeless children across the country in three months.
However, systemic failures mean little has changed in reality.
Chief Social Welfare and Slum Development Officer (Deputy Secretary) of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Mohammad Mobashwer Hasan told Stream that the law allows people to obtain a birth certificate even if they cannot provide their parents' details.
However, he said operators in charge of registration were still not knowledgeable enough to break conventional patterns and accommodate those without the details of their parents.
"When someone applies for birth registration, the identity of parents is usually required. This is standard procedure and is processed through a computerised system. As a result, the city corporation's computer operators, who handle registration, are habituated to this pattern. In the case of homeless children, many of whom do not have known parental identities, this conventional procedure creates a significant barrier," he said.
"We also fall short in another key area, which is training the staff responsible for processing these registrations. Those who process registration at various levels of the city corporations are often not adequately trained to handle non-traditional applications," he said.
He added that a government circular is expected to be issued by the local government and rural development ministry, clarifying that birth registration can and should be carried out even when parental identification is unavailable for homeless children.
He also conceded that more efforts to publicise and coordinate the implementation of such provisions was needed and clarified that the city corporations are responsible for the operational part of birth registration after an application is submitted to the Office of the Registrar General, Birth and Death Registration.
"Steps are being taken to resolve these challenges. Recently, Local Government Adviser Asif Mahmud Sajib held a meeting specifically focused on the issue of homeless children's birth registration," he added.
"I don't think a new policy or decision is needed. Instead, the effective implementation of the existing circulars and guidelines would be sufficient to enable birth registration for homeless children," Hasan added.
Mofazzal Hossain, Dhaka district coordinator of the Dhaka Ahsania Mission, a non-governmental organisation, told Stream, "We have been trying for the past four months to ensure birth certificates for homeless children by following formal procedures.
"According to the law, there is a provision for homeless children to obtain birth certificates. However, despite submitting more than 130 applications, there has been no progress. All applications remain pending.
"We have approached every relevant authority, including the Office of the Registrar General, city corporations, and social mobilisers. But have been unable to achieve any results."
He said government officials usually gave them the runaround, with officials at the Office of the Registrar General sending them to the city corporation and the city corporation referring them to social mobilisers.
"No authority wants to take responsibility," he lamented.
"As a result, we have not been able to complete the birth registration of a single homeless child under our Dhaka project."
A fragile existence
Speaking to these children, it was learnt that they largely depend on the kindness of strangers, whether it is for their daily expenses or to further their ambitions of becoming educated citizens.
A few children mentioned "Bhalo Kajer Hotel", which they said provides free meals.
A survey by Caritas Bangladesh of 667 homeless children in Dhaka, Mymensingh, and Rajshahi, as well as 1,246 families living in slum areas found that at least 94% of homeless children do not receive any form of government assistance.
Asked about education, a group of homeless children told Stream that some volunteer teams visited the Kamlapur Railway Station and taught them the basics of English, Bangla, and art.
However, although Article 17 of the Constitution guarantees free and compulsory primary education for all children, they cannot avail such facilities without proper documentation.
As a result, most have never attended a formal school.
Only one of the 21 children that Stream spoke to had been enrolled in a school at one point. The rest tried, but faced significant obstacles, mostly due to a lack of a birth certificate.
Iftekharul Islam, a programme officer at the Bangladesh Shishu Academy, told Stream that they work to support homeless children under a government project. "However, this year, no specific activities have been carried out for them under this project as activities have not yet started.
"We are committed to promoting children's mental development. Our future initiatives will depend on the scope and approval of upcoming projects."
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