China is taking steps to deal with its increasing number of
homeless children, said Zhang Shifeng, deputy director of the
Ministry Civil Affairs' social welfare office, at a conference of
local leaders from across the nation held on Sunday in Beijing.
Zhang stated that there are at least 150,000 homeless children
wandering the country's cities, most of them from underdeveloped
rural areas.
"Most of these children are suffering from inadequate daily
necessities and have no chance to receive a normal education, which
has a lifelong negative impact on their physical and mental health.
Some of them even become criminals," Zhang said.
Poverty and a breakdown in the family structure are the two
major contributing causes of the country's rise in homeless
children, according to Dr. Christian Voumard, the United Nations
Children's Fund's (UNICEF's) China representative.
"Economic and social reform has indeed benefited many in China,
but the human cost of such a rapid transformation has been
increased pressure on individuals and families, a growing migrant
population, a higher divorce rate and a growing gap between poor
and rich and between rural and urban residents and those in
different regions. All of these are pushing our children from their
families to the streets," he said.
"The tsunami that hit south and southeast Asia in last December
left thousands of children homeless," said Masahiro Ono, project
officer at the UNICEF China Office "Fortunately, they have received
timely aid from the international society. But we should never
forget that a 'soundless tsunami' -- violence, abuse, drugs and
sexual exploitation -- is killing many street children too,
including those from China. They have the need and also the right
to get our immediate attention."
Before being placed in a government-run protection center for
street children in?Guangzhou in the summer of 2004,
11-year-old Wang Xiaohai wandered from city to city in the south
for more than two years.
Wang ran away from his abusive parents in 2002, the year the
farming family moved to Xiamen, a coastal city in southeastern Fujian
Province, from a poor village in southwestern Chongqing
Municipality.
"They often beat me and I don't know why. Now I'm afraid of
going back home and I don't think they have ever tried to find me,"
said the boy matter-of-factly. "The teachers in the center are
really nice to me and I don't want to leave them."
Before coming to the center, Wang slept outdoors with his
friends and made a living by selling soda cans or polishing
shoes.
Although sending street children back home is the first choice
of Chinese aid institutions, those who can't find their families or
who are reluctant to go back are sent to child welfare houses,
foster families or special protection centers. They receive special
education and vocational training to help integrate them into
society.
China opened its first pilot protection center for street
children in 1995. By 2003, the central government had spent more
than 120 million yuan (US$14.5 million) to establish more than 130
special protection centers providing short-term shelter and
education for urban street kids. They have helped more than 10,000
children, said Li Liguo, vice minister of the Civil Affairs.
China has begun drafting its first special law on the protection
of homeless children, while regulations on shelters and assistance
for vagrants in cities took effect in August 2003. The regulations
specify the responsibilities and duties of government organs in
helping street kids.
"We are glad to see that the Chinese government is working to
help homeless children, issuing the special regulations on vagrants
in 2003, which is really a milestone event in street children
protection work in China," said Robert Wilkinson, deputy
director-general of the Save the Children UK China Program.
China plans to build more shelters for street children while
strengthening cooperation with international organizations such as
UNICEF and Save the Children UK, said Zhang Shifeng.
"We still have many things to do, but we can't just wait for
help. Action should start today," Zhang said.
(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2005)