Cancun, Q.R. — A total of eight children found working on Cancun city streets over the summer vacation were taken into protective custody. The eight kids were found in different areas of the city performing different types of work over the recent summer break.
Marisol Sendo Rodríguez, Director of Cancun DIF (Sistema Para el Desarrollo Integral de la Familia), the city’s social services equivalent, said the kids were found mostly on street corners and on public roads cleaning windshields and selling items.
All eight kids continue to be sheltered by DIF because their families have not come to claim them.
The children were removed from city streets by special police officers from the state’s GEAVI group – Grupo Especial de Atención a Víctimas de Violencia Familiar y de Género — officers trained in family violence.
“We generated an operation with the GEAVI Group in which we detected some children selling and cleaning windshields at some traffic lights. We followed through with the protocols for these cases to prevent their children’s rights from being violated. We are protecting them in our shelters,” she explained.
“The approach was first made with Grupo GEAVI workers along with our social workers to verify that they had a support network, but when they verified that they were alone, they moved to our shelters,” said Sendo Rodríguez.
“What we want is that their childhood is not spent selling on the street since they must be kids and go to school. Our law is very specific and is that no child under 15 years of age can sell or work on the street,” she said.
Sendo Rodríguez said DIF is still hopeful the parents or family members will contact DIF to claim them.
