With more than 2,600 youngsters going missing last year, social workers and police are highlighting the fight to help them
More than 2,600 children were reported missing in Hong Kong last year amid fears that an increasing number are turning to triads, drug trafficking and prostitution.
Police, parents and youth workers yesterday warned of the 'alarming' figures. Runaways as young as eight are among the missing.
The latest figures show that 1,577 girls and 1,107 boys under the age of 16 were reported missing last year, the police missing persons unit said yesterday.
Social workers also estimate that there are more than 10,000 children and young people wandering Hong Kong's streets late into any given night.
Their concern comes as fears grow for the safety of three schoolgirls who have been missing for almost a month in the New Territories.
While their disappearance is a nightmare for their parents, other families must deal with children who simply refuse to return home. One father of a 15-year-old girl is desperately appealing for his daughter to come home. 'She ran away and has been in hiding for more than a month,' said the father, who asked not to be named out of fear that his daughter would react adversely to publicity.
