Shenzhen plans to set up an institution to help vagrant children and provide jobs for beggars.

Ms Ma, an official of the Shenzhen Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau, the city's watchdog for welfare for underprivileged people, confirmed the plan Tuesday.

The bureau submitted a proposal to the standing committee of Shenzhen Municipal People's Congress to set up a center to aid, protect and educate vagrant children in Shenzhen.

The proposal says child beggars have become a social problem in Shenzhen "too serious to ignore." With their parents or other adults behind them, these children are forced to beg for money.

According to national regulations, it is illegal to force children to beg for money. The proposal also says the center will help the children out of these situations and repatriate them to their hometowns.

In another development, the bureau has decided to establish a mechanism for the city to offer work to adult beggars in Shenzhen.

In a letter responding a request to the city legislature to establish the mechanism, the bureau said jobs offered by the government could be street cleaning, removing rubbish and other tasks. The bureau said it wanted to persuade beggars to work for a living.

The bureau also said there should be a crackdown on beggars who used force, harassment or cheating and those inconveniencing city traffic and social order. Strikes should also be launched on individuals and organizations that use children as beggars there who beg for money.

(Shenzhen Daily August 3, 2004)