VietNamNet Bridge – During the summer or the New Year holiday, the villages in Xuan Lanh commune of Dong Xuan district in the central province of Phu Yen become very quiet because most of the villagers leave their home to big cities to work as beggars.

The sealed home of La O Vang.

In mid-June, many houses in Soi Nga village in Xuan Lanh commune close their doors. “Just a few kids go to the field to tent cows, most others follow their parents to town,” said Mr. So Luoi, a village patriarch.

He also explained that the “town” means Nha Trang City in Khanh Hoa Province or Quy Nhon City in Binh Dinh Province, where the villagers can beg and earn a lot of money.

Mr. Mang Vac, the chief of Soi Nga village, said June is the summer holidays of kids so they have time to follow their parents to work as beggars.

He pointed to a small house and said that it is the home of a woman named Mang Thi Chinh. "Her family has land for cultivation but she does not want to work hard so she goes to town to beg. Her husband asked her to stop doing it, otherwise she could not return home. She took her child to her parents’ home in Xi Thoai village and then keeps begging in town," Mang Vac said.

"My father goes to the field. My mum goes to town. My brother (12 years old) also works in town,” said the 8-year-old daughter of Chinh’s husband.

The 11-year-old son of Chinh’s husband, who worked as a beggar for three years, said: "My mum took me and my brother to Quy Nhon to beg and then took money to my mum. We earned several hundreds of thousand dong each day (several tens of USD). We worked from the morning until evening. We bought food for ourselves when we were hungry. We slept on park benches, hospitals or the beaches."

A child beggar in the city of Quy Nhon.

At first, the stepmother took the kids to town for begging on weekend and holidays. But seeing that this “job” could make a lot of money, she forced the kids to quit school to beg. The kids returned home after Chinh broke up with their father.

The village chief pointed to a sealed house, said: "This is the house of Mr. La O Vang and his wife. They used to beg and did not want to do farm work anymore. They borrowed VND25 million ($1,200) to spend and could not afford to pay. The whole family left the village. Their house has been sealed by the bank. The local authorities and their families do not know where they are now."

According to the village chief Mr. Mang Vac, most of the families in the village earn their living from cultivation and cattle. Their average income is from VND3 to VND5 million ($150-250) per month. This amount is enough for a family.

Of nearly 40 households lacking land for cultivation, five households have left the village to town to work as professional beggars. Many others seeing this "job" as lucrative have followed the first five families to become beggars.

"The last New Year holiday, a family bought a Chinese motorcycle after two weeks of begging. So despite any measures taken by the local authorities, they keep doing this job," said the chief of Soi Nga village.

He added that according to the village rules, if a villager is detected going to town to beg, he or she will be fined VND200,000 ($10) for the first time and VND500,000 ($25) for the second time. For the third time, the violators will have to pay both fine and serve a warning. However, the sanctions are not strong enough.

If most of the residents of Soi Nga village beg in Quy Nhon City, the people of Da Du village beg in Nha Trang City. Each group of child beggars is guarded by one or two adults.

Local authorities said that going to town to beg has become a “movement” in Xuan Lanh commune since 2008. The local government has taken many measures to prevent it, but they have failed since begging is still a “lucrative job”.

Zing/VNN