It is the beginning of the school holidays and Police are urging parents and guardians to closely supervise their children’s activities and whereabouts.
Fiji Police Chief Operations Officer ACP Abdul Khan has also stressed the importance of communication between children and parents.
“Over the past two weeks, we have recorded a number of missing children between the age of 14 to 17 years, and within a day or two they were found staying with friends or relatives, and were reunited with their families,” ACP Khan said.
“This is concerning for two reasons. Firstly, that the issue of communication is not being stressed enough, and secondly the fact that the children are found with other friends or relatives, and that there was no attempt by adults in the other homes to reach out to the child’s parents and inform or to ask their parents whether permission was granted for an extended stay.
“We understand that situations are different and that a child may be going through something and has run away for a reason, however, as adults, we should still do our part and ensure that we communicate with each other to be able to resolve whatever situation they may be facing.”
ACP Khan said it was important to closely monitor children’s activities because they are children and may end up following the wrong crowd or get into situations that may be harmful to their lives and future.
