An interview with Claudina Macuacua, President of the Tribunal for Minors in Mozambique

What are the main causes of the juvenile delinquency phenomenon in Mozambique? The phenomenon of minors in conflict with the law has different roots and reasons. It started with the civil war which ended in 1992 and killed parents who went off to fight, leaving children alone and abandoned. In most cases, both the mothers and the fathers lost their lives and neither returned to their homes, thus children became orphans and remained alone with nobody to look after them. These children began living on the streets trying to earn a life by carrying out little bits of work such as cleaning cars. But in the majority of cases they ended up begging and starving. As a consequence, these children grew up carrying out petty crimes and later on they committed bigger offences.