​​Bijie is sadly known in China for the number of left-behind children who have died. Neighbours reported nothing unusual to investigators. In 2012, five children died from carbon monoxide poisoning sheltering in a rubbish container. In 2015, four died from drinking pesticide.

Beijing (AsiaNews) – Two children of a migrant worker living away from home have been found dead with stab wounds in a village near Bijie, Guizhou Province.

According to the Beijing News, this is same area of China where four other “left-behind children” died from drinking pesticide earlier this year.

Five boys living in the streets in Bijie were also found dead in a large rubbish container in 2012 where they died from carbon monoxide poisoning whilst sheltering from the cold.

Zhang Yunyu, 15, and her brother Zhang Yunhai, 12, were found dead on Tuesday morning at their home.

The two lived with their sister, Zhang Yunzhuo, 17, who had spent Monday night at a relative’s home and found the bodies the next morning. Their mother and grandparents are dead.

The children’s father was away working as a mason in the city of Guiyang. He had left home on Sunday and has returned to help the police investigation. Village residents say they heard nothing unusual.

The case puts the spotlight on the problem of migrants’ children, the ‘left-behind children’, and the role of the government in helping them.

Some 200 million people belong to the country’s migrant armies. They are the real engine behind its industrial development, forced to move around to seek employment anywhere they can find it.

However, China’s social welfare system does not provide medical care or education for people who live outside of their birthplace. For this reason, migrants have to leave their children at home. Unfortunately, often the extended family cannot or is unable to take care of them.

• china
• children
• left-behind
• stabbing