BEIRUT: Ali is a scruffy-looking boy of 10 years old, dressed in a thin shirt and torn jeans that offer him little protection from the chilly winter wind. He spends his time wandering the streets of Hamra, asking people for money or selling flowers. He says he lives with his father and uncle in Nabaa, an area far from Hamra.His companion, a little boy of 6 who refuses to give his name, looks around worriedly as Ali talks.

“I’ve never been to school,” says Ali as his friend creeps away, looking over his shoulder. “I want to, but my father and uncle won’t let me,”

Asked if anyone is watching them, both boys shake their heads emphatically but grow increasingly nervous as the conversation continues. Finally, they scurry away, taking up positions a couple of streets down.

According to experts who work with street children in Lebanon, this is a common scenario. Myriam Kharma of the Lebanese Society for Children Capacity Building, an organization that provides services for street children, says that child beggars are often being exploited by family members or even organized gangs.

“Many times, when we are talking to a kid, and we take too long, they’ll start looking over their shoulders,” says Kharma. “Then you’ll notice someone lurking in the background, and the kid gets frantic about leaving.”

There are very few reliable statistics regarding street children in Lebanon, but partial studies estimate their numbers to be anywhere between 2,500 and 3,000. Kharma says it is difficult to gather solid data on these children for a number of reasons.

“They are moving a lot, they are scattered all over Lebanon. They don’t have identification papers, so there is no way to track them through official records,” she says.

According to Kharma, however, their numbers are on the rise, partially because of this lack of identification.

“When you have no identification, you cannot work legally or attend school,” she says. “So what happens is that when they grow up and apply for a job, they always face that barrier ... The adults find themselves on the streets, and they put their kids on the streets so that they can support the family. It’s like a vicious cycle.”

John Eter, the director of Home of Hope, the only shelter for street children in Lebanon, says that this is a frightening scenario.

“Statistically, this is a scary view,” says Eter. “If you have 3,000 children on the streets, when they marry and have kids, we will have 10,000 children on the streets. We hope that we will not get to that point.”

According to Eter, this outcome can only be prevented with a serious commitment from the Lebanese government, which is lacking at the moment.

“The government is not interested to know about the situation or to confess that there is a problem,” says Eter. “Most street children are not Lebanese. In this way, the government thinks that it can sidestep the issue. However, the [U.N.] Convention on the Rights of the Child, which the government signed, states clearly that any children living on the land need to be taken care of.”

Both Kharma and Eter agree that the number of street children may also be rising because of recent events in Syria.

“We are hearing recently more kids telling us they come from Kurdistan, which is on the Turkish-Syrian border, or from Syria,” says Kharma. “The number of children from those areas has already increased.”

Eter says that children living on the street are being abused and exploited in many ways, including sexually.

“We have heard from our children that their worst nightmare is sexual abuse or exploitation,” he says. “And they have nobody to turn to. Once they get to a stage when they are abused to a certain extent, it becomes a moneymaking venture, just like anything else.”

Another issue that should concern the Lebanese government, according to Eter, is the fact that these children may grow up accustomed to criminal behavior and become a danger to society.

“The streets are not a good place for children,” he says. “On the contrary, they are the worst place for them, where they pick up the worst of habits and prepare themselves for future criminality.”

Dr. Elie Mekhael, secretary-general of the Higher Council for Children, an organization affiliated with the Ministry of Social Affairs, says that there are many steps that need to be taken in order to ensure the protection of street children in Lebanon.

“If we want to see a reduction in the volume of the problem, we should consider preventative measures such as free compulsory education, poverty prevention, empowering these families to generate income through projects, and instituting a local safety net to ensure these children are where they’re supposed to be,” says Mekhael. “We should consider providing vocational and life skills training as well as psychosocial services for these children in order to integrate them back into the community.”

In the meantime, however, Eter says the government is not providing funding for shelters like the Home of Hope, which is struggling to remain afloat.

“Our home is extremely underfunded by the government. For example, we have no heat,” he says. “I have no money to always buy fuel. At night, we turn it on to warm the bedrooms, but during the day ... I have a great shortage of food now. We need clothing. This year we were not able to make uniforms for the children. Food, clothing, medicine, fuel – we have many needs.”

Eter says that although many schools and churches have donated their time to work with the children around Christmas, much more needs to be done.

“We have a program for the children on Christmas. Just about every day, we have something for them to do ... The problem is that this is not enough. This is done only around Christmas. Other months, we have a dry program.”

According to Eter, unless the government acts quickly, the number of street children will continue to increase.

“It has to be a package deal, not a piecemeal solution,” he says. “The government needs to have a grand plan. Without a plan ... we will be like Don Quixote, fighting the wind.”