The world was shocked last week to see a little two-year old boy chained to a pole in China. It seemed a cruel thing to do until we learnt that his father Chen Chuanliu, had no other choice but to take his son to work, his wife being too ill to care for him and no other family members able to help out.
Chen Chuanliu is an unlicensed rickshaw cyclist in Beijing, taking fares all over the city while the boy's mentally disabled mother collects rubbish from the streets. They secured their son with a padlock around his ankle because their four year old daughter Ling was 'stoken' from them last month.
The father is a migrant worker, an out-of-towner, and according to China's laws, the boy and his family have no rights to free healthcare or education and other social security benefits. What little money he and his wife can scrape together goes on rent and food which is expensive.
Now a local kindergarten nursery boss in Beijing has come forward and offered to give Jindang three years free childcare. Fate has intervened for this lucky family but I wonder how many others are in a similar position.
But there is more heartache for Chen Chuanliu, his four year old daughter Jinghong vanished on the 22nd of January. After leaving her playing with friends, when he returned, she had disappeared. They were too poor to have a photograph of the child so the police only have a description to go on. That's why the desperate father decided to padlock his son to the pole, he couldn't risk losing him as well.
It's not unusual for children to go missing in China. Although slavery is illegal, there are an estimated 27 million people throughout the world, mainly children, in conditions of slavery.
No comments:
Post a Comment