Beijing officials are planning to round up beggars and ship them out of the city as part of clean-up campaign ahead of next year’s Olympics Games, according to state media reports on Thursday.
City police are working with government representatives to come up with a plan to round up beggars and other lawless elements, according to a report in the daily newspaper the First.
It said Beijing officials planned to expand holding centres for ”outlaw” beggars who would then be shipped back to their home provinces.
”The plan is to guarantee smooth repatriation by working in close cooperation with home cities and provinces,” the paper said, quoting officials who attended a city public-order meeting.
Beggars, hawkers and operators of illegal taxis would be targeted in the clean-up campaign, to be launched later this year.
The report said city officials were considering banning all beggars from downtown areas where top-class hotels, shopping centres and tourist attractions are located.
Most beggars are professionals who belong to guilds and prefer to beg rather than receive state handouts or accept regular work, according to media reports.
They were a rare sight in Chinese cities until about 20 years ago, when economic reform and a loosening of social controls allowed a massive influx of migrants from rural areas.
Last year city officials strongly denied media reports that they planned to expel migrant workers from the city before the Olympics. – Sapa-AFP