An unfortunate child was rushed from their shelter to hospital only after MP Stéphanie Anquetil sounded the alarm on radio Plus. This adds to several other cases of what seems to be neglect, if not downright abuse, fully investigated by l’express and making the headlines.

This begs a very serious and worrying question: how much can the government push cronyism and disregard for qualifications and competence to get to its ends? What is the cost of jobs for nou ban, irrespective of their qualifications – or rather their lack thereof – at the expense fully qualified Mauritians who do not subscribe to the political agenda of the monopolising ruling party?

We have discovered with a mixture of rage and disgust how children in a government shelter, L’Oiseau du Paradis, where they are expected to be given the full protection of the law and the government, are instead subjected to the worst type of abuse. We have also seen, through photos brandished in parliament by Labour MP Stéphanie Anquetil, the sanitary and physical conditions of the place in which children, taken away from their parents to supposedly afford them a better future, are living and developing.

The child neglect, not to say abuse, being exposed this week through a Private Notice Question and other parliamentary questions should get each of us worried. It has long-term consequences, writ large. In most cases, children who are abused or neglected suffer mental and physical health damage, which threatens their well-being and denies them the tools needed to cope with life. This in itself may have long term effects which may be chronic and debilitating such as depression, suicidal thoughts or even violent behaviour. As abused children get older, they may show learning difficulties and easily fall victim to crime, drugs or alcohol, and may themselves abuse others. If you don’t care about the children themselves, think of the effects of that on society as a whole. 

Situations of such importance, you would think, need to be entrusted to qualified people who are themselves equipped with the tools needed to help the children in their care have better opportunities than if they had stayed with the parents they have been snatched away from, wouldn’t you? Well, not according to the information revealed in parliament last week. It would seem that all you need to be an expert in childcare in L’Oiseau du Paradis is a primary school certificate! In other words, you need to be barely literate to qualify for the position of caring for especially vulnerable children and helping them acquire knowledge and skills! L’express also reveals that some of the carers, on top of being semi-illiterate are also physically and mentally unfit to look after themselves, let alone look after children! Don’t you dare ask the question: on the basis of what were they given priority to jobs that there are many qualified people out there ready to do but are automatically excluded from? The answer to that is perhaps even more depressing!

I cringe at the thought of those children hastily taken away from their parents to be given a better life and finding themselves in a heartlessly uncaring environment where they probably scream until they realise that it serves no purpose and then learn to silently put up with the pain. Until some patriot blows the whistle and an MP sounds the alarm on the radio or in parliament. Then they are momentarily sent to hospital for temporary relief. I find nothing more outrageous than the silent pain of those who can’t express it or denounce those causing it.  

Except perhaps the eminently callous insensitivity and arrogance of the minister who is paid handsomely to supposedly  care for them but who thinks her job is to accumulate overseas trips and per diems at the expense of taxpayers, in between naps in the national assembly. Outrageous indeed!