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Title: China – Xinjiang – out of Plan Births – “Black Children” – Ethnic

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Title: China – Xinjiang – out of Plan Births – “Black Children” – Ethnic Refugee Review Tribunal AUSTRALIA RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE Research Response Number: CHN31465 Country: China Date: 8 March 2007 Keywords: China – Xinjiang – Out of plan births – “Black children” – Ethnic Russians This response was prepared by the Country Research Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Questions 1. Is a first child ever a ‘black child’, for example where there is no father named on the birth certificate? 2. Do persons of Russian descent suffer harm in Xinjiang, China? RESPONSE 1. Is a first child ever a ‘black child’? According to Susan Greenhalgh, Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, black children are “children who result from unauthorized pregnancies carried to term in violation of program rules.” Greenhalgh continues: By classifying all pregnancies and births as “planned” or “unplanned,” the birth planning program has effectively created a whole new class of children who are illegitimate. Sometimes known as “black children” or the “black population” (hei haizi, hei renkou), these “unplanned persons” are legally and socially nonpersons. Ineligible for household registration, they have no right to state provided schooling, higher education, health care, and a host of other state services and benefits. They are excluded from many types of jobs and not permitted to purchase property. Certainly, some unplanned children manage to obtain these services on the market although at higher cost and lower quality than if they had been provided by official sources. But we have no idea how many are getting services in other ways. Stories in the Chinese media reveal the troubles these “outlaws by birth” can encounter and also create. With little formal education and low status in society, growing numbers live on the streets, turning to petty crime to survive. The first cohort of such children is now reaching young adulthood and encountering serious problems, from getting jobs to getting married. Because “unplanned children” is not a bureaucratic category for data collection, we have little idea how many unplanned children there are, though their numbers are certainly large. But we do have some sense of who they are. Given the strong son preference in rural China, the vast majority are probably girls. The evidence available suggests that most of the unplanned children are farm children who still live in the rural areas or have migrated, alone or with their families, to the cities. In a reversal of the usual situation, the urban children may fare more poorly than the rural. In the countryside, the household register is a less central mediator of state services than in the past; in addition, registration for the unplanned child may be negotiated with sympathetic local officials. Reports from China suggest that some are “legalized” – or entered in the register – after payment of a fine, while in other cases cadres prefer to keep unplanned children out of the register to make their localities’ planned birth rates look higher than they really are. In the cities, however, registration continues to provide access to the full range of state services and welfare benefits. The result is that unregistered persons, in particular, rural members of the “floating population,” enjoy much less than full citizenship rights. This is an extremely sensitive issue that Chinese program leaders do not like to publicize (Greenhalgh, Susan & Winckler, Edwin 2001, Chinese State Birth Planning in the 1990s and Beyond, September, Immigration and Naturalisation Service, pp.38-39 – Attachment 1). For more information on black children please see Section 31.18 to 31.20 of the UK Home Office’s Country of Origin Information Report dated 29 September 2006 (UK Home Office 2006, Country of Origin Information Report, 29 September – Attachment 2). In Xinjiang as elsewhere in China, the first child can be “out of plan” if they are born to an unmarried woman or born to a married woman who is younger than the designated childbearing age. Previously in Xinjiang as elsewhere in China, a first child was “out of plan” if the mother did not apply for and receive a birth permit from the authorities. A Google translation of Xinjiang’s population and family planning regulations is included as Attachment 3. The regulations came into effect on 1 January 2003. According to Article 15, the childbearing age is 21 years for a minority female. According to Article 41, contravention of Article 15 results in a levy. According to Article 42 an out-of-wedlock birth results in a levy (Xinjiang’s population and family planning regulations 2003, Shanghai Municipal Population and Family Planning Commission website, Google translation of http://www.popinfo.gov.cn/popinfo/pop_doczcwd.nsf/v_zcfg/49C5B5EF4DF76CF748256D2 E000F7187 – Accessed 7 March 2007 – Attachment 3: Please note that the translation is rough and if you wish to rely on it in a decision you should consider having it translated officially). According to the UN Population Fund and reported by the US Department of State, Xinjiang still required birth permits in 2004. A new national law on family planning came into effect on 1 September 2002. The new law does not mention birth permits or permission to have a child. According to the most recent US Department of State’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2006, all provincial governments except Tibet amended their family planning regulations to conform to the new national law (Population and Family Planning Law of the People’s Republic of China 2002 (unofficial translation), UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific website http://www.unescap.org/esid/psis/population/database/poplaws/law_china/ch_record052.htm – Accessed 7 March 2007 – Attachment 4; US Department of State 2005, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2004 – China, 28 February, Section 1f – Attachment 5; and US Department of State 2007, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2006 – China, 6 March, Section 1f – Attachment 6). For information on children born overseas please see page 7 of the Greenhalgh report, Section 39.18 to 39.23 of the UK Home Office report and Research Response CHN30673 dated 25 September 2006 (Greenhalgh, Susan & Winckler, Edwin 2001, Chinese State Birth Planning in the 1990s and Beyond, September, Immigration and Naturalisation Service, p.7 – Attachment 1; and UK Home Office 2006, Country of Origin Information Report, 29 September – Attachment 2). 2. Do persons of Russian descent suffer harm in Xinjiang, China? No recent information on ethnic Russians suffering harm in Xinjiang was found amongst the sources consulted. According to the 2003 census, there were 11,100 ethnic Russians living in Xinjiang or 0.06% of the regional population. According to information posted on the China.org.cn website, ethnic Russians are represented by deputies in the National People’s Congress and the regional People’s Congress. For more information on ethnic Russians in China please see Attachment 7 and Attachment 8 (‘The Russian Ethnic Group’ 2005, China.org.cn website, 21 June http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/EthnicGroups/136946.htm – Accessed 6 March 2007 – Attachment 7; and ‘The Russian Ethnic Group’ 2005, China.org.cn website, 25 August http://www.china.org.cn/english/null/139526.htm – Accessed 6 March 2007 – Attachment 8). According to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAT), ethnic Russians are classed as one of the 55 national minorities in China: Article 4 of China’s Constitution provides that: “All nationalities in the People’s Republic of China are equal. The state protects the lawful rights and interests of the minority nationalities and upholds and develops the relationship of equality, unity and mutual assistance among all of china’s nationalities. Discrimination against and oppression of any nationality are prohibited; any acts that undermine the unity of the nationalities or instigate their secession are prohibited. (...) The people’s of all nationalities have the freedom to use and develop their own spoken and written languages, and to preserve or reform their own ways and customs” (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 1995, Cable BJ9438 – Information Request: Refugee Claims: Ethnic Russians in China, 27 March – Attachment 9). DFAT advice dated 1 August 2003 provides the following information on the situation of ethnic Russians in China: We are not aware of any evidence that white Russians are being singled out for persecution, discrimination or arbitrary arrest and detention. Given the white Russians population in china today is extremely small and continuing to diminish we consider it unlikely that this group would be singled out (DIMIA Country Information Service 2003, Country Information Report No.105/03 – Double Jeopardy, (sourced from DFAT advice of 1 August 2003), 4 August – Attachment 10). On 8 April 2005 DFAT advised that the advice dated 1 August 2003 “remains valid” (DIMIA Country Information Service 2005, Country Information Report No. 22/05 – China –retrial of refugees who have committed crimes outside China, (sourced from DFAT advice of 8 April 2005), 12 April – Attachment 11). For general information on the treatment of ethnic minorities in China please see Section 5 of the US Department of State’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2006 which is included as Attachment
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