Campaign to protect left-behind children sees results

As of the end of August, over 680,000 previously unsupervised "left-behind children" in China's rural areas have been placed in the custody of guardians, according to an office affiliated to the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA).

The term left-behind children refers to children whose parents have left rural areas to become migrant workers in towns or cities, leaving behind their children either unsupervised or in the care of relatives or neighbors.

Since November 2016, a total of 11,821 left-behind children who had dropped out of school have now resumed their education, according to the office under an inter-ministerial conference established by the government to protect left-behind children.

Police nationwide have entered 125,377 left-behind children on the national household records, or hukou, who were previously not registered.

Police also cautioned 90,822 parents for not fulfilling their duties of taking care of their children. A total of 282 parents were warned, detained or fined by police, and 17 were deprived their guardianship by courts, the office said in a statement.

During the campaign, local governments prioritized the protection of left-behind children in their annual tasks, and were active in allocating funding for the children's protection and providing them with assistance such as medical care and education, according to the statement.

The office has requested police and government at all levels to make further efforts in the campaign, including more targeted measures to make sure no left-behind children are left without guardians.

As of November last year, China had 9.02 million left-behind children, according to a census jointly carried out by the ministries of civil affairs, education and public security from March 2016.