By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
BEIJING, China – Human Rights Watch said that despite recent positive steps taken by the Chinese government, discrimination against persons with disabilities continues in China. Human Rights Watch applauded the Chinese government’s enactment of a variety of new laws including the Law on the Protection of Disabled Persons, Regulations on the Education of Persons with Disabilities, and the Regulations on Employment of Persons with Disabilities, which on paper provide impressive protections of the rights of China’s estimated 82.7 million persons with disabilities. However, these protections have meant little to persons with disabilities and their advocates in China who struggle to promote their rights and, in particular, to fairly compete for employment, said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.
According to a 20087 survey conducted by the China University of Political Science and Law, 22 percent of the 3,454 respondents in10 major cities said their physical disabilities had prompted employers in both the public and private sectors to reject them for jobs. Official statistics show that the number of employable people with disabilities did not have jobs rises by 300,000 per year since 2007. Although the government has imposed a mandatory quota requiring that people with disabilities comprise a minimum of 1.5 percent of all employees of government departments, enterprises, and institutions, there is little evidence of official efforts to enforce that quota.
Furthermore, 200 million migrant workers in China are still facing employment discrimination and services for them are not in place. “Migrant workers have lower pay and worse welfare than urban workers,” said Li Zhuobin, a member of the Standing Committee of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at a meeting on balanced development between urban and rural areas. He purposed the Chinese government to implement the salary deposit rule in a variety of industries. The salary deposit rule requires employers to deposit a certain amount of money in a special labor department bank account. The money is used to pay migrant workers whose employers don’t pay them. The rule has been implemented in the construction industry. Li also suggested that preferential policies to promote employment should cover both urban and rural residents and local governments should continue lifting discrimination rules against migrant workers.
For more information, please see:
AFP – Beijing makes big efforts to help disabled, but hurdles remain – 04 September 2008
Human Rights Watch – China: As Paralympics Launch, Disabled Face Discrimination – 05 September 2008
XinHua – Chinese advisor urges ending discrimination against migrant workers – 02 September 2008
