1,600 Xinjiang vagrant children rescued
Source: Xinhua |
February 4, 2013, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
AS many as 1,600 vagrant children have returned to Northwest China's Xinjiang and resumed a normal life as part of a two-year drive to tackle homelessness and abductions.
Children in Xinjiang are many times abducted and trafficked to inland cities, and forced to carry out illegal activities such as robberies.
The regional government vowed to rescue and educate the vagrant children, and work with non-governmental organizations and volunteers to meet many of their needs.
The region started a campaign in April 2011 in an attempt to bring all vagrant children back, eliminate organized crime and restore Xinjiang's reputation.
Netizens joined the campaign by raising donations online and bought train tickets for vagrant children across the nation.
Akbar, 16, who goes to a local senior high school, used to live on the streets of the northeastern city of Shenyang.
He was accompanied home to Kuqa County in southern Xinjiang by netizens last month.
"We are grateful to the people who found him on the street, gave him food, contacted us for him, and accompanied him on his way back," said Akbar's parents. "Our life has finally become normal again now that Akbar is back."
However, local legislators think the achievements are only a start.
The living conditions of many others who have returned is worrisome, according to a recent survey by Xinjiang Women's Federation. The survey found most returned children are reluctant to settle down in their hometowns because the villages lag too far behind the big cities to which they had become accustomed. Many of them also felt detached from their parents because they were too busy working, according to the survey.
Erkin Taxmemet, a local lawmaker, said some children were even abandoned by their divorced parents, for neither parent was willing to bring them up. He added that having been school dropouts for years, the children were reluctant to return to education as they felt it too difficult to catch up.
Elat Hasan, Secretary General of the Xinjiang government, said the authority has acknowledged these problems and is striving to prevent returned children from wandering the streets again. Children who were healthy and did not have criminal records were sent back to their hometowns for further education, he said.
Xinjiang has spent 88 million yuan (US$14.2 million) on a training center and shelter for vagrant children.
Children in Xinjiang are many times abducted and trafficked to inland cities, and forced to carry out illegal activities such as robberies.
The regional government vowed to rescue and educate the vagrant children, and work with non-governmental organizations and volunteers to meet many of their needs.
The region started a campaign in April 2011 in an attempt to bring all vagrant children back, eliminate organized crime and restore Xinjiang's reputation.
Netizens joined the campaign by raising donations online and bought train tickets for vagrant children across the nation.
Akbar, 16, who goes to a local senior high school, used to live on the streets of the northeastern city of Shenyang.
He was accompanied home to Kuqa County in southern Xinjiang by netizens last month.
"We are grateful to the people who found him on the street, gave him food, contacted us for him, and accompanied him on his way back," said Akbar's parents. "Our life has finally become normal again now that Akbar is back."
However, local legislators think the achievements are only a start.
The living conditions of many others who have returned is worrisome, according to a recent survey by Xinjiang Women's Federation. The survey found most returned children are reluctant to settle down in their hometowns because the villages lag too far behind the big cities to which they had become accustomed. Many of them also felt detached from their parents because they were too busy working, according to the survey.
Erkin Taxmemet, a local lawmaker, said some children were even abandoned by their divorced parents, for neither parent was willing to bring them up. He added that having been school dropouts for years, the children were reluctant to return to education as they felt it too difficult to catch up.
Elat Hasan, Secretary General of the Xinjiang government, said the authority has acknowledged these problems and is striving to prevent returned children from wandering the streets again. Children who were healthy and did not have criminal records were sent back to their hometowns for further education, he said.
Xinjiang has spent 88 million yuan (US$14.2 million) on a training center and shelter for vagrant children.
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