Through working with departments and branches on solutions to strengthen state management to prevent the occurrence of homeless people, beggars, herders, and child laborers, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Society assessed that Ho Chi Minh City has focused on directing agencies and units to implement Decision No. 812/2023 of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee on the regulations for coordinating the gathering of children, homeless people, beggars, and subjects in need of urgent protection.
Although localities have recently launched campaigns to strengthen implementation, the number of cases of vagrants and beggars has not decreased significantly, and in many localities it has increased. This shows that the solutions are still not strong enough.
"HCMC needs to announce and unify a number of hotlines for receiving information related to the situation of children and homeless beggars and have a mechanism to process information accurately and promptly. Because currently, when a passerby sees a homeless or beggar, they do not know which phone number to contact. We can place hotline banners right on the main roads and intersections for people to see," said Mr. Cao Thanh Binh.
Vagrants and beggars in Phu Nhuan District are gathered to verify their residence.
At the same time, Mr. Cao Thanh Binh said that Ho Chi Minh City needs to strengthen investigations and strictly and thoroughly handle those who groom and exploit the labor of children, the elderly, and the disabled for personal gain.
"Most of the cases that come to social protection facilities are sponsored to return home. Therefore, there must be professional measures to monitor these cases after they return to their localities, such as whether the children are taken care of by their families or are they used to beg. Ho Chi Minh City also needs to boldly handle and prosecute criminal cases of child grooming," Mr. Cao Thanh Binh emphasized.
In terms of policy, Mr. Cao Thanh Binh said that it is necessary to supplement, assign responsibilities and build a stricter process, for example, when there is a report, after how many hours must the locality handle it. Ho Chi Minh City needs to assign responsibility to the local leader first if the management of the area is not done well.
Management agencies also mentioned the issue of vagrants and beggars moving through many areas, so Mr. Cao Thanh Binh said that Ho Chi Minh City needs to research a common connection channel so that the whole system can identify and monitor them, avoiding the situation of "kidnapping and abandoning the dish". At the same time, it is necessary to coordinate with neighboring provinces, cities and areas to pay more attention and manage more closely.
In the long term, Mr. Cao Thanh Binh believes that it is necessary to perfect a sustainable social security system, calculate policies and regimes on care and vocational training for homeless people and beggars when social protection facilities receive them. Ho Chi Minh City has now established a Social Security Fund, so it is completely possible to believe that there will be many timely care and support solutions in the near future.
"From the perspective of People's Council delegates, we will continue to monitor, strengthen supervision and urge the implementation of this work," said Mr. Cao Thanh Binh.
A case of an old man wandering around begging at the corner of To Ngoc Van - Pham Van Dong street (Linh Tay ward) was received by the working group of Thu Duc city and gathered at the ward.
Ms. Nguyen Thanh Phung, Head of the Social Protection Department (Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City), said that the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs is advising the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City to direct localities to strengthen management and concentration of homeless people and beggars in the area.
According to Ms. Phung, to effectively manage and concentrate homeless people and beggars, the following main solutions need to be considered: First, there should be a channel to receive feedback about homeless people and beggars in the area, and the media should not give money to beggars directly.
Second, the role of each district, county and Thu Duc City in solutions to strengthen local management or coordinate with neighboring areas in this work. Localities need to review residential areas with a high concentration of temporary residents (especially the elderly, children, and people with disabilities) and coordinate closely with the Ho Chi Minh City Police to promptly detect and prevent people from herding and exploiting vulnerable people to beg for profit. At the same time, localities must have solutions to help and create jobs for disadvantaged people to rise up and become self-reliant in life.
Third, functional units, People's Council delegates, and National Assembly delegates should strengthen inspection and supervision to know whether localities are implementing resolutely and to what extent in order to have timely solutions. In addition, People's Committees of districts, towns and Thu Duc City also need to develop and implement a plan to inspect and supervise the implementation and organization of Decision No. 812/2023 of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee in wards, communes and towns on a quarterly and ad hoc basis.
Meanwhile, Mr. Pham Dinh Nghinh, Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Association for the Protection of Children’s Rights, said that in reality, it is very difficult to completely resolve the situation of homeless people and beggars, especially with the location, scale and specific nature of Ho Chi Minh City. Instead, Ho Chi Minh City can consider implementing solutions to help reduce to the lowest level the situation of homeless people and beggars, especially children.
"In any conditions and circumstances, children are always a group of subjects that need special attention and protection. Many large cities in the world still have the situation of homeless people and beggars but there are very few or almost no children. But this is contrary to the reality of the city, where children are the majority group. It is time for us to have more practical, drastic and specific solutions to fundamentally resolve the situation of homeless people and beggars, especially children," Mr. Nghinh said.
More drastic and specific solutions are needed to put an end to the situation of street children begging. In the photo: Children spitting fire and begging on Bui Vien Western Street (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City)
According to Mr. Nghinh, solving the problem of homeless beggars cannot be solely the responsibility of one agency, one level, or one sector, but requires connection and coordination among many related parties.
"We cannot just focus on placing all the responsibility on the local government if we have not fundamentally and satisfactorily resolved the issue of personnel, support policies, and procedures when dealing with homeless beggars," Mr. Nghinh emphasized.
At the same time, Mr. Nghinh also said that the root cause of the problem of beggars comes from poverty or the exploitation of the elderly and children for personal gain. Therefore, there needs to be a solution for each specific problem.
Regarding the causes of poverty, natural disasters, poor health, unemployment, etc., in addition to implementing current subsidy policies, Ho Chi Minh City needs to further promote the establishment of social work service centers, including both public and non-public ones. Along with that, it is necessary to consider arranging and improving existing protection facilities in the direction of supplementing and expanding the function of accessing and supporting the community.
"In the unfortunate event of falling into special circumstances, vulnerable groups will be provided with support services according to their needs as quickly and effectively as possible (providing meals, temporary accommodation, long-term care, support for cultural studies, vocational training, job placement, etc.). As for the act of herding and exploiting the elderly and children to beg, state agencies at all levels need to coordinate with the police to investigate and handle them strictly and deter them. This needs to be done regularly and continuously, not just on holidays, Tet or on the occasion of certain anniversaries," said Mr. Nghinh.
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