Street children's decision to leave homes

Recently I read an article in The Daily Star about street children which I found factual and interesting. But there were some basic points that were not correct. The article noted that most of the children living in streets are either orphans or being left out by their parents.

I have been involved with very young as well as older children living in the streets for over 25 years. While there are a very few who do have little information of their parents or their birthplace, I have found out from my personal experience and from talking to others that almost all of them do have families and that they have run away from home and want to go back to their families. Many of them have left home after being subjected to physical or emotional abuse at home or at school. Here at APON, we have many children like them who learn how to overcome anger and resentment and look forward to being reunited with their families.