Some 1,500 homeless children live in Prague streets

PRAGUE, Feb 11 (CTK) - About 1,500 homeless children live in the streets of Prague, the daily Lidove noviny (LN) writes today, referring to information by Laszlo Suemegh, coordinator of the Chance project within which a daily facility for homeless kids was opened in Prague centre these days.

The paper says that the number of homeless people in the capital of Prague has been put at 5,000, but the situation of children who live it the street is much more difficult.

Suemeth told the daily that children and young people from the whole Czech Republic leave for Prague as their dream place, hoping they can score success and earn money easily there.

However, they often end up as prostitutes and drug addicts who sleep in parks and other public areas such as the Central Station, where a high number of the Prague homeless gather.

About 70 percent of children who live in Prague streets come from children's homes, others are from problem families. Boys make up a majority of homeless children, Suemegh said.