Regulations governing the detention and deportation of urban vagrants and beggars have been wiped from a bunch of Shenzhen's ordinances.

The recommendation was approved unanimously Tuesday at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Municipal People's Congress.

It signified the abolition of rules governing vagrant detention in Shenzhen.

The decision followed the State Council's abolition of the two-decade-old regulation on urban vagrant management this June. The Measures for Internment and Deportation of Urban Vagrants and Beggars, promulgated by the State Council in May, 1982, was at the center of a major controversy over the death of Sun Zhigang, a 27-year-old graphics designer in Guangzhou.

Sun was beaten to death in police custody March 20 after being detained for not carrying a valid residency permit.

The abolition involves the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone's social security comprehensive administrative regulation, police patrol ordinance, hukou management regulation of temporary residents and measures for implementing laws for the protection of minors.

Before the change, people who entered the special zone and stayed without temporary residence permits would be deported or detained.

According to the new regulations, vagrants and beggars found on the street will be advised to seek help from aid centers. Handicapped and underage people seeking help from centers will be provided with guidance and escorts

It was also revealed at the meeting that the social security comprehensive administrative regulation was to be revised.

(People’s Daily October 30, 2003)