Migrants put behind fences

来源：百度文库编辑：神马文学网时间：2024/05/01 18:17:25

Migrants put behind fences

08:21, May 06, 2010

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Will ring of steel stop migrant crime? He Na goes behind barriers at Laosanyu village in Beijing.

From outside, Laosanyu looks like a military base or a prison. There are tall metal fences and high walls surrounding the community, and its only entrance is guarded 24 hours a day by men in uniform.

Peek through the 2-meter-high bars, though, and this austere illusion is all but shattered by the typical sights of a Chinese village: Residents relaxing in the shade, dogs excitedly chasing a chicken on a dirt road.

Yet the heightened security is part of controversial moves by authorities in Daxing, a southern suburb of Beijing, to curb rising crime rates in areas with large migrant populations. Laosanyu, which is made up of 90 percent migrants, is just the first of 16 communities that will be fenced off as part of the district government's fengbi guanli (literally "sealed management") system.

Under the program, residents not only have to show passes to get through the ring of steel around the 7-hectare village, teams of volunteers also patrol the streets several times a day, while newly-installed closed-circuit cameras sweep the area for suspicious activity.

"If this system effectively improves public security, we will promote the method to the rest of the villages in the city," said Zuo Baoshuan, an official with Daxing public security bureau. "The entire process is expected to be finished in June."

The project has drawn applause and outrage in equal measure.

"The number of thieves is extremely high in the summer and during Spring Festival," said resident Wang Guiying, a woman in her 60s. "The sealed management adds additional security and good people are not afraid."

Her neighbor Wei Junjing agreed and added: "If a pass card could bring security to me, why not try this way."

However, critics say the new measures are discriminatory to migrants - who are often accused by officials of being responsible for the majority of crime in city suburbs - and threaten civil rights.

"Closing off the village will do nothing but harm," said Yuan Chongfa, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission's research center for small towns and cities. "This move not only closes the door on migrants but also on future development. This could even damage the city's image."

As the area south of the capital has developed, the migrant population in Daxing has ballooned. The district now has five towns where migrant residents outnumber those with hukou.

"Ours is no longer a village in a traditional sense," said Wang Changxiang, Party secretary of Laosanyu, where only 612 of 7,000 residents have hukou. "Six years ago, two street cleaners were enough for the entire village. Now we have to hire 13 to deal with at least 12 tricycles of garbage a day."

The influx has also been a boon for local businesses, particularly landlords. At least 180 of the 185 households in the village rent their homes. Yet authorities say the increase in migrants has also led to a spike in crime.

Over the last five years, 80 percent of all crime in the district has occurred in one of these five towns, with at least 80 percent committed by migrants, according to Daxing's office of general services.

"During Spring Festival this year, there were eight burglaries in one night," said Guo Ruifeng, head of Laosanyu village.

However, when China Daily visited the area this week, many residents were skeptical that the high fences and guards will help reduce crime.

"Most crime here happens in the early hours of the morning," said the owner of a cell phone shop in the village who did not want to be identified. "If they really want to improve the public security, I suggest they close the village after midnight and enhance patrols at that time."

His business has been badly affected by the closure, he said. Before, he could sell more than 10 phone cards and two or three cell phones a day. Now he barely sells anything.

"Most of my customers are young people from nearby factories, so the closure of the village has left us dead in the water," he complained.

Jiang Zhengqing, who owns a supermarket close to the village entrance, said the number of customers at his shop has also reduced drastically. "Before, the streets were crowded with people in the afternoon but now the village is deserted," he said. "If the situation continues like this, it will become hard to make ends meet. I don't know whether I'll still be in business next year. I can't understand why the (district) government has invested such a large amount of money into putting up these useless fences, rather than repair our dirty public restrooms and bumpy roads," he said.

Ye Xin, a 23-year-old migrant worker from Heze, Shandong province, has worked as a cashier at the supermarket for a month. She added: "I hope the fences will be removed soon. If the number of customers keeps reducing, I could lose my job."

Thanks to its cheap rent and convenient transport links into the capital, Laosanyu not only attracts migrant workers, but also many petitioners (people who come to the capital to protest corruption or injustice in their province), according to a recent report by Beijing Times.

"I know there are still many (petitioners) living in the village. If they (officials) carry on with the close inspections every day, I am sure many will leave," a petitioner surnamed Wang from Heilongjiang province was quoted as saying.

Behind the barriers

Despite strong opposition from some of the floating population and several experts, several residents insisted the furor will die down quickly.

"The security guards just pretend to work seriously for their superiors. The security will gradually loosen again as time goes by," said a grocery store owner surnamed Li from Xinyang, Henan province, who has lived in Laosanyu for four years. "More than 7,000 people live in the village now. Who does not have friends or relatives? Can they stop all these people from visiting?"

Chen Debao, another official with the Daxing public security bureau, said the new measures are not designed to keep people out of the village.

"As long as people can provide their identifications and the purposes of entering the village, they are all allowed to enter. It won't affect people's daily lives," he said.

However, analysts say the controversy surrounding the feng bi system reflects the need for clear legislation to manage the floating population.

"The regulations on migrant management today are not only complicated but also contradict each other," said Tang Jun, secretary-general of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' center for social policy studies. "We are in dire need of a national unified law.

"We also need to enhance the protection of the rights of migrant people, to clear up their rights and responsibilities in the terms of law."

The most effective way to manage the floating population is actually by getting migrants involved in the process, said Tang. "Migrant people need to have a sense of security. If we could increase the number of their representatives in local residential committees to gather their opinions and suggestions, the effect would be far better."

Compared to other districts, Daxing's population structure makes it a difficult place to manage, said research director Yuan Chongfa, who argued that the situation also highlights the need to overhaul China's much maligned hukou system.

"Cities are still managed through hukou but it is not a good way to deal with the large flow of migrant population," he said, urging the central government to look abroad for inspiration on how to solve the problem.

Source:China Daily

Migrants put behind fences

Migrants put behind fences

08:21, May 06, 2010

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