Construction of a national network for providing free legal aid to
migrant rural laborers, considered a disadvantaged group, was
launched in
Beijing on
Saturday.
The program, with an investment of 3.6 million yuan
(US$460,000), was jointly launched by the UNDP China office and the
All-China Lawyers' Association. It aims to train lawyers and help
them set up local offices in more than 20 provinces in one
year.
The network will further expand to cover more areas of China in
the future, said Yu Ning, head of the association.
Yu said that before Saturday's launching ceremony, several
offices for providing legal aid to migrant rural workers have
already been established in Beijing, Hebei and Henan.
The Beijing migrant rural worker legal assistance center,
established in September 2005, has helped more than 40,000 workers
solve labor disputes, involving more than 200 million yuan (US$25.6
million).
Statistics from the Legal Aid Center under the Ministry of
Justice show various legal organizations provided legal assistance
to more than 125,000 migrant rural workers in 2006, up 65 percent
over 2005.
The government has enhanced protection of rights and interests
of migrant rural laborers, which number more than 200 million, in
recent years to promote social harmony and maintain social
stability.
(Xinhua News Agency February 4, 2007)