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Official denies plans to expel migrants for Olympics
(AP)
Updated: 2006-09-28 09:07
BEIJING _ A Beijing official on Wednesday denied reports the city will expel migrant workers during the 2008 Olympics, but said the Chinese capital is investigating how to keep the mentally ill from "damaging the public interest" during the Games.
Chinese officials have promised that hosting the Olympics will improve respect for human rights, while IOC officials have warned them privately that excessive social controls could mar the Games.
The state-run Beijing Morning Post newspaper reported this month that many of the 1 million migrant workers in Beijing from other parts of China would be expelled before the games.
"This contention has no basis in fact," Zhou Jidong, head of the city government's legal department, said at a news conference.
Beijing relies on migrants who lack official permission to live in the capital to do construction work and other menial jobs. But some residents complain they detract from their quality of life.
Zhou said he was unaware of a report this week by the New York-based group Human Rights Watch that Beijing had ordered the closure of 50 schools for migrant children as part of a pre-Olympic cleanup.
"I don't know about this," he said. "On the contrary, the city government has a special fund to provide for the schooling of the migrants' children.
"The rights of migrant workers should be protected," he added. "It is important to recognize their contribution to Beijing."
Zhou said Beijing hasn't decided how to deal with mentally ill people during the Games, despite a Beijing Morning Post report that saying they all were to be hospitalized to prevent "harm to society."
"We are now studying the issue," Zhou said. "The city government plans to ask the municipal (council) to make a law about psychiatric health regulations aimed at providing mental health treatment and preventing mentally ill people from damaging the public interest."
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