Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has witnessed
a surge in juvenile delinquency with adolescents making up 23
percent of the 408 offenders seized in the first half of last
year.
This is a sharp rise from 19.5 percent in 2005 and 14.2 percent
in 2000, according to figures provided by the regional public
security department.
Though figures are still not available for the whole of 2006, a
public security department spokesman said the majority of the 94
juvenile delinquents seized in the first six months were accused of
robbery or theft.
Nearly 70 percent of the juvenile suspects seized in 2005 were
detained on robbery charges, and at least 50 percent of them were
gang members, he said.
The number of homeless children committing a crime doubled in
the five years between 2000 and 2005, the spokesman said without
giving detailed figures.
To make matters worse, hostile forces have encouraged antisocial
kids to take part in splittist activities, he said without
elaborating.
Experts with the local women's federation have attributed the
rising juvenile delinquency rates in Xinjiang to diverse reasons,
including a lack of family love, drugs and Internet addiction and
above all, a lack of effective intervention at home and school.
They called for an early establishment of a juvenile research
body in Xinjiang to investigate and analyze juvenile problems and
advise policymakers on these issues.
The local government should also provide shelter to homeless
kids, help them solve crises and protect them from committing
crimes, they said.
(Xinhua News Agency January 23, 2007)