Ho Chi Minh City is going to kick off a campaign to bring homeless people and beggars to social sponsoring centers for their own interest and for improving order, security and civilization in public places.

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Along with the ongoing campaign to send drug addicts to compulsory detoxification centers, this annual campaign will start on December 28, said Vo Thanh Quang, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Social Sponsoring Center. The campaign targets subjects who are beggars and homeless people living in public places such as the bottom of bridges, sidewalks, parks, bus stations and squares. All beggars who beg for money in public places in any manner will be gathered and sent to social centers for care and management, Quang said. If beggars are mendicant monks, they will be required to obtain a certificate from a relevant agency under the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha so that they can be excluded from the campaign. Those who are suffering from mental diseases or show signs of mental disorders will be sent to the Mental People Caring Center, the official said. After being sent to this center and the city Social Sponsoring Center, beggars and homeless people will be classified in groups and have personal files set up. These files will then be sent to the municipal Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, which will consider their cases and issue decisions for each group, as the Social Sponsoring Center will take care of the beggars and homeless for a maximum of three months only, Quang said. Annually, the center receives more than 2,000 beggars and homeless people who live in public places, the official said. Currently, the facility is caring for 200 people at a cost of VND30,000 (US$ 1.4) per person per day, Quang said. Regarding the ongoing campaign to collect drug addicts that began on December 5, more than 1,220 subjects were sent to the Binh Trieu Rehabilitation Center in Binh Thanh District and the Nhi Xuan Vocational Training and Job Creation Center in Hoc Mon District as of December 20, the city Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs reported.

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