“They would always say they were coming back, but they never came back.”
These are the words of Sinet Chan in her letter to the Australian government. As a child, Chan spent years in a Cambodian orphanage after losing both of her parents to HIV. Describing her experiences during her formative years there, Chan recounted being forced to entertain the constant stream of visitors from abroad by singing songs and playing games with them in order to encourage donations to the orphanage. “The volunteers were nice people, trying to help us,” Chan wrote, “But now I realise it was a form of exploitation, using us to generate funding.”
According to the Thomson Reuters Foundation, half of the orphanages in Cambodia are located in two cities—Phnom Penh and Siem Reap—which are both popular tourist destinations. While the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has temporarily suspended the flow of tourists to orphanages, the practice of orphanage tourism must be brought to an end.
The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund found that around the world, at least 2.7 million children are living in residential care institutions like orphanages. Even so, UNICEF has also acknowledged that this figure is likely an underestimate since it does not fully account for children living in private institutions. According to statistics published in 2018, around 8 million children were living in orphanages and other institutions, a figure comparable to the population of New York City at the time.
The introduction of foreign tourism is especially jarring within this context. Orphanage tourism traces its roots to “voluntourism,” a model of tourism that claims to combine sightseeing with volunteering. The quest among tourists to “do good” has generated significant interest in local orphanages as destinations for trips and excursions. In visiting such institutions, each tourist and volunteer automatically becomes a potential donor, whether they realize it or not.
While some have argued that this tourist presence is beneficial since it provides much-needed financial support, the expectations attached to this perceived donor-recipient dynamic could lead to significant consequences. Indeed, UNICEF warns that children living in orphanages and other residential care institutions have often been forced to participate in activities meant to please the tourists, as Sinet Chan described.
Furthermore, data suggests that a significant percentage of the children living in these institutions have parents, relatives, and families of their own who would likely be able to care for their children if only they had access to more support and resources. In Nepal, for example, as many as 85% of children residing in orphanages have at least one living parent. Similar numbers have been reported in other nations like Haiti, where families facing poverty may place their children in orphanages hoping that such institutions will give their children a better future.
Thus, putting a stop to orphanage tourism requires action at all levels. Although governments in some countries, including Cambodia, have initiated efforts to shut down exploitative orphanages, official communication surrounding this issue remains sparse. At the national and international levels, more accountability is needed to create and enforce stronger regulations that support families, prevent separations, close down illicit institutions, and protect children from exploitation.
Governments could also formally recognize the negative impacts of orphanage tourism. In Australia, for example, the Explanatory Memorandum to the Modern Slavery Bill 2018 refers to the exploitation of children in orphanages as an offense under Australia’s criminal code. Establishing similar regulations in other countries could also be valuable in educating tourists and preventing them from contributing to situations that place children at risk.
As pandemic travel regulations gradually become less stringent, potential tourists must avoid participating in activities that may bring harm to children in orphanages. Especially since orphanages are often featured and recommended on travel websites, tourists should be mindful of the consequences of their actions, even if they come from good intentions. To better support children who are living in orphanages, visitors could instead follow the recommendations of organizations like UNICEF.
Ultimately, children living in orphanages are not tourist attractions, and orphanage tourism is morally problematic as it exploits both the vulnerable situation of children as well as the sympathy of potential donors. Although COVID-19 has briefly halted the flow of orphanage tourism, this practice must be permanently stopped.
Image Credit: Image by freestocks is licensed under Unsplash License
