China premier orders probe after 'left behind' children kill themselves

[bananas]

Source: Reuters

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has ordered an investigation into the case of four "left behind" children who apparently committed suicide by drinking pesticide in a poor part of southwestern China, as millions of workers leave loved ones to find work.

In many rural parts of China, children are left in villages to be looked after by grandparents or other relatives while their parents work in the booming cities.

They are either not able to join their parents because of their jobs, or because in many cases they lack the paperwork needed to live in urban areas and access services like schools and health services.

The four children, one boy and three girls aged from five to 13, were left alone at home in Bijie in Guizhou province and died after drinking pesticide on Tuesday, state media said.

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Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/china-premier-orders-probe-left-behind-childrens-death-074911569.html

[shenmue]

1. ...

[Dont call me Shirley]

2. The children...

[snagglepuss]

3. No social safety. This is what neocons want.

What a nightmare those poor kids endured. What a nightmare existence their parents must endured to have brought them to do this.

[LibertyLover]

4. If we hadn't been very lucky

and adopted our daughter 11 years ago, she could easily have been one of those girls. How very sad. I ache for them.

[roguevalley]

5. four lights snuffed out because of someone in power not valuing them. the

parents must be so sick.

[jtuck004]

6. Millions of people here in the same circumstance, and going back through history are perhaps

hundreds of millions left behind, many in dire poverty or certain to face starvation or death as we built up this country.

Today there is enough technology, and perhaps lack of historical knowledge, that today we can hear about it as if it's new.

And, too, we are paying so things like this can now happen elsewhere, which is interesting.

[Person 2713]

7. Over whelming for the 13 yr old ,maybe the rest were all under 9