In just six weeks, over 260 chinese children have been abandoned at a ‘baby hatch.’
The safe haven opened in late January and as of this past Sunday, 262 children had been abandoned.
According to a href=http://news.yahoo.com/five-babies-day-left-chinese-citys-baby-hatch-055330333.html>AFP, all the children abandoned have some sort of illness: Down syndrome, cerebral palsy and heart diseases just to name a few of them.
The ‘baby hatch’ is located in Guangzhou. Since Sunday, it is no longer accepting any more children due to extreme overcrowding.
In February, BBC reported that each province in China was ordered to open at least two safe havens by the end of the year.
Most of the children left are dropped off because their families cannot pay for their expensive medical bills.
Over 25 safe havens have been introduced to China with more on the way. They are a way to provide care for children and to decrease the population of homeless children on the streets.
As of Sunday, any person who leaves a child at the safe haven will be reported to police. A re-opening of the ‘baby hatch’ will be announced at a later date once the population inside goes down.