Arrest and repatriation

Arrest and repatriation ( Chinese  收容 遣送 , Pinyin Shōuróng Qiǎnsòng , English Custody and Repatriation , abbreviated C&R 收 遣 Shōu Qiǎn ) was an approach taken by the authorities in the People's Republic of China between 1982 and 2003. Based on the Hukou system, people without a residence permit or temporary could May be arrested and returned to their registered permanent residence. This particularly affected the more than 100 million migrant workers from rural regions who stayed in cities to B. to work in civil engineering.

background

According to the Chinese government, the Chinese approach to custody and repatriation (C&R) was similar to the treatment of illegal immigrants in other countries, e.g. B. the USA. In both cases it was difficult or impossible for the accused to sue for their rights or to appeal. In both cases, the reasons for the arrests were mainly based on labor migration . In “western countries” this practice is used, B. the reception camp on Lampedusa in Italy to protect their own population and people from other countries and cultures are interned. In contrast, the Chinese approach was directed against its own rural population, on whose alliance with the workers according to Article 1 of the constitution the People's Republic of China is based. The background to this regulation is the enormous migratory pressure within China, which is illustrated by the number of 200 million migrant workers in 2006.

Internment camp

In 2000, 800 detention camps (excluding the public security camps in Beijing) were officially reported to have been incarcerated over 3.2 million in China according to Human Rights and over 1 million prisoners in 2002 according to Amnesty International . In addition to migrant workers, homeless people, beggars, the mentally ill, criminals and supplicants were imprisoned there. According to official figures, 5% of those detained were under 18 years of age. In addition, the detainees had to pay for their own accommodation.

The food and sanitary conditions in the internment camps were worse than in regular prisons and labor camps. Those detained for months, were regularly beaten by the police or the cell bosses and had to do long, hard work. Young women and girls were ransomed from detention camps by criminals in order to force them into prostitution. The youngest girl who was rescued from a hotel by the Beijing police after the hotel manager bought it from a detention center was 13 years old, Human Rights reported in China.

history

The basis of the C&R system was the Hukou reporting system set up in 1961 . In 1982, based on this, the C&R system was set up with the official justification of improving the situation of beggars and homeless people . Originally it was therefore applied to “people without three” - without a permanent address, without a livelihood and without a residence permit in the respective city. This system combines traditional family registers with work permits (issued by the police to work units or workers) to prevent uncontrolled population movements.

In 1991, the C&R system was extended to people who simply had no residence or no work permit. But when the economic development of the cities increasingly required migrant workers, it was only inadequately adjusted or disproportionately tightened by the Public Security Office. The abuses became particularly evident in the years before 2003. There were internal and external warnings and discussions, but these brought few improvements and had little effect. There were also unpublished deaths similar to those later published.

Death of the fashion designer Sun Zhigang

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The administrative procedure of the “Custody and Repatriation” was stopped by the central government in 2003 after a death received a lot of attention in newspapers and on the Internet .

On March 20, 2003, Sun Zhigang, 27, died in the clinic of a detention center in Guangzhou , southern China , which is heavily dependent on migrant workers. Sun Zhigang was a fashion designer who went to Guangzhou to work. When he wanted to go to an internet café three weeks after starting work, the police asked him for his residence permit and ID. He had not yet applied for a residence permit and had forgotten his ID. He called a friend and asked him to bring him his ID. Three days later, a friend called his family and told them about Sun's death.

An official autopsy from Sun Yat-sen University showed that Sun had been brutally beaten before he died, even though his body showed no signs of external injuries. The autopsy found bleeding under the skin measuring 60 x 50 cm. That is, his entire back was affected, which caused his death. The detention center clinic had stated that the cause of death was a heart attack.

Sun's family could not find a reporter for a long time to cover his death. Eventually she passed the results of the autopsy on to reporters from Nanfang City News . This was headlined on April 25, 2003: "Sun Zhigang was beaten to death".

The case drew hundreds of thousands of Internet messages until three lawyers wrote to the National People's Congress , questioning the practice of "custody and repatriation". One problem with this law is that it was enacted by the State Council of the People's Republic of China , not the National People's Congress, they argued. Therefore, the law is not constitutional because it overrides civil rights, which only belong to the National People's Congress.

As a result, twelve people were sentenced for the death of Sun Zhigang. Two death sentences, one life sentence and three 15-year sentences were imposed. It is believed, however, that the investigation of the crime was given close to or directly to the authorities originally responsible. Five people from the infirmary where Sun died and eight other inmates were charged, but no police officer. No explanation was given as to why Sun was taken to the infirmary unconscious or why other sick people should beat an unconscious man. Almost two years later, it was reported that six police officers and officials were also sentenced for Sun's death.

In late 2003, Nanfang City News began investigating the finances . Editor Cheng Yizhong and three of his colleagues were arrested. They were charged with corruption and misappropriation of public funds in connection with the report of Sun's death. Yu Huafeng and Li Minying were sentenced to 12 and 11 years in prison, respectively. After considerable resistance to the elimination of the management of the country's most popular and profitable newspaper, the sentences already imposed were reduced to eight and six years respectively, and Cheng was released.

Abolition of the C&R system

On June 20, 2003, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao announced that the "custody and repatriation" procedure would be abolished on August 1, 2003. Furthermore, the internment camps would be replaced by "measures to support the destitute homeless and beggars in cities".

The centers for the homeless, which will continue to exist, have since been banned from charging families or asking homeless people to work. The legal hukou system still exists, but every “rural dweller” is now allowed to stay unhindered in a city. In order to take up a job or rent an apartment, however, he still needs a residence permit.

However, some problems for migrant workers persist. It is reported that they often do not receive their wages on time, have difficulty getting insurance from their employers or getting medical care. In 2005 about 10 billion euros were outstanding in wages. Furthermore, safety in the workplace is not guaranteed, with 2000 deaths among Beijing's construction workers alone each year.

See also

• Laogai
• Re-education through work
• Human rights in the People's Republic of China
• Ministry of State Security of the People's Republic of China

Web links

• Susan Jakes: Hostages of the State Time Magazine, June 16, 2003

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Alison Parker: Inalienable Rights Human Rights Watch, September 30, 2004; last accessed on February 14, 2009
2. ^ Constitution of the People's Republic of China December 4, 1982; last accessed on February 14, 2009
3. ↑ ^{a b} Georg Blume and Babak Tavassolie: Migrants in their own country The Parliament, January 15, 2007; last accessed on February 14, 2009
4. ↑ ^{a b c d} Nicolas Becquelin: Enforcing the rural-urban divide - Use of Custody and Repatriation detention triples in 10 years ( Memento of the original from April 30, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; last accessed on February 14, 2009 
5. ↑ Annual Report 2003 China ( Memento of the original from September 17, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Amnesty International, 2003; last accessed on February 27, 2009. 
6. ↑ ^{a b c} Tong Yi: Kidnapping by Police: Custody & Repatriation ( Memento of the original from April 30, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. last accessed on February 14, 2009 
7. ^ ^{A b} Marco Pannella: China - imprisonment practice described as “custody and repatriation” , accessed on February 14, 2009 . In: Official Journal of the European Communities . CE 170, October 15, 1999, pp. 124-125.
8. ↑ ^{a b} 84 Days and Nights in Guangzhou China.org.cn, July 8, 2003; last accessed on February 14, 2009
9. ↑ Thomas E. Kellogg and Keith Hand: China crawls slowly towards judicial reform Asia Times, January 25, 2008; last accessed on February 14, 2009
10. ^ Sun Zhigang's brutal killers sentenced China daily, June 10, 2003; last accessed on February 14, 2009
11. ^ ^{A b} Sophie Beach: Rise of Rights? China Digital Times, May 27, 2005; last accessed on February 14, 2009
12. ↑ China: Beijing's Migrant Construction Workers Abused Human Rights Watch December 3, 2008; last accessed on February 14, 2009
13. ↑ Stefan Schattauer: Report on the political and economic situation in the PR China ( Memento of the original from October 7, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. June 2004; last accessed on February 14, 2009 
14. ↑ Willy Lam: Hus new deal AFAR October 27, 2008 ( Memento of the original from August 23, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.