IX-6 Question: China has reformed its policies toward vagrants and beggars in cities, with the establishment of a relief system replacing the former administrative measures mainly based on internment and deportation. What has led to the shift? What other help has the government offered to this disadvantaged group?
A: The internment and deportation system, established under the planned economic system, was originally designed as a welfare shield to accommodate and relieve jobless migrants and natural disaster victims in cities. It played a positive role in ensuring the basic living standards of migrants and beggars. However, amid social progress, the operational mechanism and administrative measures of the system became unfit to the changed situations. Misconduct by some local officials also added to its unpopularity.
By scraping the internment and deportation system and instead creating a relief system, the Chinese Government is making progress to adopt a more people-oriented approach to deal with vagrants and beggars in cities. For this purpose, the State Council, China's cabinet, promulgated the Measures for the Administration of Relief for Vagrants and Beggars Without Assured Living Sources in Cities, which took effect on August 1, 2003. According to the measures, vagrants and beggars in cities, who do not have guaranteed food supplies and lodging, do not have relatives or friends who can support them and are not covered by the urban or rural basic living allowance scheme, will receive government relief in terms of food, lodging, medical care, communications, transportation to their hometowns and escort.
In light of different conditions of the relief recipients, they are subject to diversified treatments in the relief centers: No restrictions apply to those with full capacity for civil conduct; and those with no or with limited capacity for civil conduct, such as persons with disabilities, elders and minors, will be put under mandatory care. For example, those who are aged below 16 years will be accommodated by protection and assistance centers for street urchins; and those with disabilities and having difficulties in moving about and those who are aged above 70 years and are unable to take care of themselves will be nursed. Generally, the relief is given for no more than 10 days. After the relief recipients leave the relief centers and return to their hometowns, the local governments are obliged to provide settlement aid for the persons with disabilities, elders and minors in particular, and help them overcome problems in production and improvement of living conditions. In addition, the relief centers will transfer their residents with mental disabilities to welfare institutions.
China's vagrant and beggar relief system is carried out on a voluntary basis and the aid is free of charge. To assist its implementation, a program has been launched to guide probable relief seekers to get the help they expect. Under the program, workers with the departments engaged in city management have the duty to inform vagrants and beggars that they can ask for help from the government-run relief centers and to persuade and escort disabled persons, elders and minors up to the stated conditions to the relief centers. As for ailing vagrants and beggars who are in critical condition, the finders are obliged to report related situations to government-designated medical institutions. The relief centers are barred from charging the relief recipients or their families for the services they give or taking advantage of the recipients for profit. Freedom of the relief recipients are assured in the relief centers, who can leave the centers on their own decisions. In addition, state relief will not be forced to those who do not seek or refuse it.
By the end of 2006, China has established more than 1,100 relief centers and 130 protection and assistance centers for street urchins. In the year alone, the system responded to more than 700,000 relief demands, including more than 100,000 cases involving children, playing an irreplaceable role in helping vagrants and beggars in cities.
It is still impossible for China to eliminate begging, a phenomenon that also exists in developed countries. However, the Chinese Government is determined to tackle the problem through improving the social security and social relief systems and promoting the coordinated development of urban and rural areas, so as to gradually reduce the number of vagrants and beggars.
(China.org.cn)