Protecting children on the move. A study based in the probation district of Hambantota, Sri Lanka

Children on the move in the Hambantota probation district were identified as a vulnerable group of children without adequate protection. According to the Department of Probation and Childcare Services there is an urgent need to address issues of these children with careful, consultative planning. The prevailing efforts to protect children are considered as ways of criminalising and victimising vulnerable children. As a result of not adopting child-friendly protection mechanisms, the persons who are assigned to protect children are seen as traitors. There is a constant tension between so-called protectors and vulnerable children. The multi-stakeholder action-oriented study on children on the move was carried out based on a request made to Save the Children in Sri Lanka by the Department of Probation and Childcare Services in order to develop an effective, child-friendly, sustainable protection mechanism to address issues of children on the move