The Ministry of Childhood and Adolescence (MINNA) coordinated, in the early hours of May 18, a protection operation aimed at indigenous children and adolescents in vulnerable situations on the streets of Ciudad del Este. During the action, 42 boys, girls, and adolescents were identified, some of them found on the median strip of the international highway.
Three minors were without any responsible adult. In a specific case, a repeat offender woman and her seven children were sent to the MINNA's Centro Abierto Refugio, by order of the Childhood and Adolescence Defender's Office of Ciudad del Este, while other protection measures are being evaluated.
The rest of the children and adolescents underwent medical inspection carried out by the Mobile Clinic of the Ministry of Health and were then transferred to their communities of origin in the departments of Guairá, Caazapá, and Alto Paraná.
The operation included the participation of the Red Vests of the Immediate Response Device (DRI) and the Comprehensive Care Program for Indigenous Children (PAINI), both from MINNA, in addition to the Paraguayan Indigenous Institute (INDI), the Government of Alto Paraná, the local CODENI, prosecutors for Childhood and Adolescence, and agents of the 3rd Police Station of Alto Paraná.
The main objective of the intervention, according to MINNA, is to guarantee the protection of childhood, avoiding exposure to winter cold and other dangerous situations on public roads, and to reestablish the fundamental rights of vulnerable communities.