These are appalling pictures indeed.
Separately, at least in India the media can declare, unreservedly, that there are occasions of national shame. Thats something.
In Bangladesh there is no such thing as national shame and no one has the guts to declare it loudly. We suffer from complexes of profound insecurity and inadequacy.
--- In alochona@yahoogroups.com, Isha Khan <bdmailer@...> wrote:
>
> *After Delhi's disgrace, the shame: Child labourers pictured working on
> construction sites in frantic effort to get Commonwealth Games stadiums
> ready*
>
> By Jonathan McEvoy<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Jonathan+McEvoy>
>
>
>
> - CNN find dozens of incidents involving children of seven and younger
> - Save The Children 'concerned'
> - English athletes arrive to prepare for next week's events
>
> India was yesterday building its chaotic Commonwealth Games venues with the
> toil and sweat of the country's children.
>
> Distressing pictures show children apparently as young as seven carrying
> hods and buckets as part of the Delhi's desperate bid to complete
> construction ahead of the opening ceremony a week tomorrow.
>
> The images, released by CNN, drew criticism from Save The Children. 'We are
> concerned about reports of young children working on construction sites,'
> said the charity.
> [image: Carrying the can: A naked child walks with a pail as Commonwealth
> Games labourers look on at a site in Delhi discovered by CNN]
>
> Carrying the can: A naked child walks with a pail as Commonwealth Games
> labourers look on at a site in Delhi discovered by CNN
>
> [image: Hi-ho! A child quite clearly helping in the construction at the
> side of a road in Delhi in one of dozens of instances catalogued by CNN]
>
> Hard at work! A child quite clearly helping in the construction at the side
> of a road in Delhi outside the Indira Gandhi Stadium in one of dozens of
> instances catalogued by CNN
>
> 'The Games have attracted media attention to the issue of child labour, but
> we must not allow this issue to be forgotten after the momentary media glare
> subsides.'
>
> It is an indication that the organisers - who have been criticised for the
> late-running of almost every aspect of the Games - are desperate to save the
> project from being cancelled as the first athletes, including the English
> party, arrived in Delhi.
>
> Trafficking expert Siddharth Kara, a Harvard fellow, told CNN: 'I reliably
> documented in just a few days 32 cases of forced labour and 14 cases of
> child labour.
>
> 'Children were working, picking up hammers, banging stones, paving entry
> ways and planting grass along the roads to beautify them, hours and hours at
> a time.
> [image: Barefoot: A child risks injury in the middle of a site in Delhi as
> contractors furiously try to finish the building work before next week's
> opening ceremony]
>
> Barefoot: A child risks injury in the middle of a site in Connaught Place,
> one of the main thoroughfares for Games traffic, as contractors furiously
> try to finish pavements before next week's opening ceremony
>
> [image: Shocking site: Another barefoot young child is seen performing
> chores with older workers]
>
> Shocking site: Another barefoot young child is photographed by CNN
> performing chores with older workers
>
> 'I documented children aged seven, eight, nine, ten years old working
> alongside their families in this mad rush to get the construction
> completed.'
>
> Kara, a renowned expert on the subject of human trafficking, also outlined
> the harsh conditions these children were forced to work under:
>
> 'The conditions are sub-human and that's really the only word I can apply.
> They live in the dirt, they go to the toilet behind bushes and trees which
> is why they found human excrement in the athletes village a few days ago.
>
> 'The children, especially the young ones, don't have a sense of what's going
> on. They're told to do the work and they just do the work. They don't know
> that they should be in school or that they should be playing.'
> [image: Taken for granted: This family of labourers told CNN they had moved
> to Delhi before the Games but had not been paid for two monthss]
>
> Taken for granted: This family of labourers told CNN they had moved to Delhi
> before the Games but had not been paid for two monthss
>
> The pictures emerged as English athletes began arriving in Delhi today.
>
> Meanwhile, organisers were frantically last-minute deep clean of the
> athletes' village.
>
> Queues of labourers began arriving at the village site this morning armed
> with brooms and mops ready to scrub clean stained wash basins and showers
> and sweep building rubble from floors.
>
> Sporting bodies in England have now agreed 'unanimously' in favour of
> dispatching the entire squad to India for the tournament, which is due to
> start on October 3, despite shocking pictures exposing the filthy state of
> athletes' accommodation.
>
> It was an advance English team of 22 including the English hockey and lawn
> bowling teams that arrived today, with others due to follow them in the
> coming days, although they plan to stay in hotels for a few days before
> moving to the village.
>
> 'Everybody is very excited, wants to get there, you know, get in with the
> action and get going, really,' Caroline Searle, spokeswoman for the English
> team, said as the athletes left the airport.
>
> After holding its team back because of the problems, New Zealand also
> decided today to attend the games. Its athletes are to begin arriving in the
> Indian capital on Tuesday.
>
> 'We remain hopeful that things can be turned around,' committee President
> Mike Stanley said.
>
> Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also confirmed that they would be
> travelling to Delhi as planned for the October 3 opening ceremony.
>
> The optimism signalled a major change in mood from earlier this week when
> team officials expressed horror at the conditions at the village - including
> excrement in rooms and problems with plumbing, wiring and furnishings.
>
> Organisers earlier soothed the concerns of participating nations by giving a
> number of assurances over the safety of stadiums and improvements to the
> athletes' village.
>
> The move followed a series of mishaps at the site of the Games, including a
> footbridge collapsing at the main arena and a ceiling caving in at the
> weightlifting venue.
>
> In addition, teams hit out at accommodation for athletes described as 'unfit
> for human habitation'.But the President of the Commonwealth Games Federation
> Mike Fennell today insisted 'considerable improvements' had been made to
> conditions in the athletes' village.
>
> Mr Fennell added: 'It is vital that all remedial work that has already
> started continues with the greatest urgency.'
>
> At least eight nations expressed reservations over the haphazard
> preparations for the Games.
> Individual athletes, including reigning Commonwealth triple jump champion
> Phillips Idowu, have decided not to attend over safety fears.
>
> Ongoing concerns over the structure of venues and accommodation conditions
> had risked the far more damaging prospect of entire teams pulling out of the
> event.
>
> But as of last night, that outcome appeared to have been averted.
>
> Nevertheless, criticism continued, with Australian Olympic Committee
> President John Coates saying India should not have been given the games.
>
> 'The problem is the Commonwealth Games Federation is under-resourced. It
> doesn't have the ability to monitor the progress of cities in the way the
> (International) Olympic Committee does,' he said.
>
> The England team management said in a statement: 'Commonwealth Games England
> and its 17 member sports unanimously agreed that they will go to the Delhi
> Games.'
>
> CGE's chef de mission, Craig Hunter, and our team in Delhi, are now seeing
> the improved levels of resourcing which are required to resolve the
> significant operational issues, but we will continue to monitor the
> situation daily to ensure the village and stadia are safe and fit for
> purpose.
>
> 'The board continues to press the Organising Committee of the Commonwealth
> Games Federation for assurances on both the stadia and the accommodation as
> well as liaising with the British Government. At all times the safety and
> security of our team is paramount.'
>
> England had already decided to send an advance party of 22 athletes,
> including members of the men's hockey and bowls teams, to the host city
> today as planned.
>
> Assurances given by organisers in New Delhi include accommodation
> maintenance, plus proof that all structural safety certificates for both the
> village and the venues are in place, backed with full insurance cover
> through the Delhi 2010 Organising Committee.In addition, top hoteliers in
> the region have been brought in to oversee the cleanliness of the athletes'
> village.
>
> Lalit Bhanot, the secretary-general of the organising committee, further
> reassured participating nations that everything was being done to improve
> the buildings.
>
> Mr Bhanot, who previously caused controversy by claiming that the problem
> was in part down to different standards of hygiene between the host nation
> and other countries, said he was confident the Games would be a success.
>
> He added: 'The government, along with the organising committee, have made
> all efforts to get the place up to the standard that is desirable.
>
> 'Everything is fine. We have seen the work that has gone on in the past few
> days and you will see that the standard will be brought to the desired
> level.'
>
> The guarantees, alongside frenzied work to improve stadium safety and
> accommodation conditions, led to a number of countries nodding their
> approval yesterday.
>
> [image: Wash and go? The bathrooms at the Commonwealth Games athletes'
> village have been exposed as being in a particularly poor state]
> [image: Wash and go? The bathrooms at the Commonwealth Games athletes'
> village have been exposed as being in a particularly poor state]
>
> Wash and go? The bathrooms at the Commonwealth Games athletes' village have
> been exposed as being in a particularly poor state
>
> [image: Danger: Exposed cables and huge holes in the building work can be
> seen in these pictures]
> [image: Danger: Exposed cables and huge holes in the building work can be
> seen in these pictures]
>
> Danger: Exposed cables and huge holes in the building work can be seen in
> these pictures
>
> Team Wales said in a statement that it was 'confident in the assurances that
> have been provided'.It added: 'The advance party will now be moving into our
> accommodation and we look forward to welcoming our athletes in the coming
> days.'Likewise, Scottish athletes appear to be on track to arrive over the
> weekend.
>
> Team Scotland's representative Jon Doig said: 'We have continued to make
> progress addressing the maintenance and operational issues within our own
> accommodation block and things are looking much better.'
>
> He added that the team should be in a position today to confirm that
> athletes will travel to Delhi tomorrow.
>
> Welsh cyclist Geraint Thomas became the latest high-profile athlete to pull
> out of the Games.
>
> Speaking on Daybreak, the Olympic gold medalist said he was withdrawing from
> the competition because of 'hygiene' concerns.
>
> He said: 'The risk of myself getting ill just seemed too great. I had a chat
> with my coach and a couple of doctors at British Cycling and that was the
> conclusion we came to.
>
> 'I don't have a spleen, which fights infections, so I'm obviously a bit more
> susceptible to picking things up.'
>
> Thomas ruptured his spleen when he crashed during a training session in
> Australia in February 2005 and subsequently had it removed.
>
> He told the BBC Wales website he was preparing for a World Cup race the
> following day when he hit metal debris in the road, falling onto the
> handlebars of his bike. The 24-year-old was back riding six weeks after his
> operation.
>
> Thomas had a successful Tour de France this year, competing for Team Sky. He
> wore the white jersey as the best rider under 25 and was second overall for
> a number of days.
>
> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1314976/After-Delhis-disgrace-shame-Child-labourers-pictured-working-construction-sites-frantic-effort-stadiums-ready.html
>
------------------------------------
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