(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-24 14:08

"Most migrant families have one or two children, but some families have more than three and they fear that registration will be used to fine them. They refuse to fill in the forms or claim these are relatives' children," said Wu Lihua, director of the Shibalidian Migration Population Control Office in Chaoyang District.

Benefits for registration could ease these fears. Zhang said that registration should result in more services, such as fare discounts on public transport -- as local children get -- or insurance.

"We explain that it will give them more access to public services, such as free vaccinations," Wu said.

Free medical check-ups, sports kits, books and computers are also provided to some schools with migrant children in the UNICEF pilot cities.

"Most parents have little money to buy books other than text books for their children. We provide books about literature and science to diversify their reading. We also provide computers so the kids can have access to the Internet as most migrant families can't afford this, in a bid to narrow the digital gap between children," Zhang said.

Many experts worry about the psychological and social well-being of these children. The registration of migrant children is expected to facilitate their access and referral to public health services including psycho-social support, said Zou Hong, a professor with the Psychology College at Beijing Normal University.

"I wept a lot when my parents were not at my side. I yearned to talk to them, especially when I could not get along with my friends or had to study too much," Geng said.

She was angry with her parents for leaving her behind when she was five and told her mother "you're so bad for not taking me along with you," Geng recalled, but she does not hate her parents as "they work to make the family's life better."

Her parents sell decorative materials in a nearby market and each earns  about 700 yuan (100 U.S. dollars) a month. They spend 300 yuan on rent for a small room and 600 yuan every semester for Geng's education.

When Geng first came to Beijing, she dared not speak for "fear of the new environment." Asked whether she was discriminated against by local children, Geng and her close friend Wang Jing said: "We don't know any local Beijing children yet. We only play with the children of migrants."

Living in cities distances these children from their hometowns. Geng said that she no longer felt close to her childhood friends when she went home for the holidays. "We have not played together for so long," she said.

Figures from the All-China Women's Federation released in February indicate that 58 million children are left behind in rural China when one or both parents work year-round in the cities. These children often find themselves shifting between the roles of migrant and left-behind children.

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