“嬰兒安全島”之困

On June 1， 2011， which was Children’s Day， the first “baby’s safety island” was founded in Shijiazhuang， Hebei Province. Even before the founding of the “baby’s safety island”， there were heated discussions about life， dignity， morale and law. The most extensive discussion focused on whether “Baby’s Safety Island” indulges the abandonment behavior and whether “Baby’s Safety Island” makes abandonment behavior legalized.

2011年6月1日兒童節，第一家“嬰兒安全島”誕生于河北省石家莊市，在設立“安全島”之初，由此延伸出來的有關生命、尊嚴、道德、法律的探討與爭議一直在持續。而其中最廣泛的爭議聚焦在安全島是否會縱容遺棄行為，以及安全島是否會讓不合法的遺棄行為變得合理化。

“Safety Island”: moves on in the name of life

“安全島”：以生命的名義前行

The Chinese government has had definitions and explanations about “Safety Island” for a long time. Deputy Minister of Civil Affairs Kou Yupei once said in a press conference of the information office of State Council: “In China， baby abandonment is an illegal action and is unallowable for social moral. The founding of “Safety Island” is based on the principle that life comes first and children’s rights take precedence， which is in line with the legislative spirits of Chinese Protection Law of Minors and not against criminal laws in cracking down the crime of abandonment of babies.” Therefore the intention of founding “Safety Island” is to respect life rather than to indulge the abandonment behavior. It is more like a repair to abandonment behaviors to minimize the harm. There is order in the links of protecting the life rights of abandoned babies. Law focuses on prevention while “Safety Island” focuses on remedy. From 2011 to 2014， the implementation of “Safety Island” has passed three years. According to the introduction of Director Huang Wanjun of Children’s Welfare House of Harbin， in the past， most abandoned babies were thrown at the welfare house and if they could not be spotted timely at night， they would probably die. The founding of “baby’s safety island” prevented abandoned babies from the second harms of cold， rain， snow， lightening or the gnawing by animals. Based on the feedback of reporters， it verified the original mission of the founding of safety island.

對于“安全島”，中國政府早有界定與說明，民政部副部長竇玉沛曾在國務院新聞辦的新聞發布會上表示，“在中國，遺棄嬰兒屬于違法行為，也為社會道德所不容。設立棄嬰島，正是基于生命至上、兒童權益優先的原則，與中國未成年人保護法的立法精神是一致的，與刑法打擊棄嬰犯罪也是并行不悖的。”因此，安全島的設立本意是為了尊重生命，而并非遺棄行為的溫床，它似乎更像是遺棄行為的修補，將傷害減小到最低。只不過在保護棄嬰生命權益的環節上有先后之分，法律重在預防，安全島重在補救和應對。從2011年到2014年，安全島在中國的實施已經走過了三個年頭，據哈爾濱市兒童福利院黃萬軍院長說:“以前，大部分棄嬰都是被扔到福利院的門口，如果是晚上不能夠及時發現，很可能危及到孩子的生命。設立嬰兒安全島后，避免了棄嬰在被遺棄后再次受到寒冷、雨、雪、雷電或小動物咬嚙等二次傷害。”而據記者得到的反饋也印證了“安全島”設立之初的使命。

Director of Social Welfare Institute of Shijiazhuang Han Jinhong said: “The survival rate of abandoned babies is very low after they are accepted into hospital. The babies abandoned from November to March of the next year are not likely to survive. When they are discovered， most of the babies suffer from pneumonia， high fever and injuries. Among the 181 babies adopted by “baby’s safety island”， there was a sharp decline in death rate and the number of babies’ illness and disability also decreased a lot. It provides the biggest protection to babies and effectively prevents them from the second harms. Due to this positive effect， the Chinese government conducted pilot expansion. Up to February 18， 2014， 25 baby’s hatches have been built and put into use in ten provinces including Hebei and Tijian. There are also other 18 provinces actively building babies hatches or observation and treatment centers for abandoned babies.

石家莊市福利院的院長韓金紅介紹說:“以往遺棄在院門口以及附近的嬰兒住院以后存活率很低，從11月份到次年3月份被遺棄的孩子很難救活。被發現的時候，大多數孩子都患有肺炎、高燒和外傷。而在‘嬰兒安全島’目前接收的181個孩子中，死亡率明顯降低，棄嬰患病、殘疾的數量銳減。它給棄嬰提供了最大的保護，避免了二次傷害。”也正是由于這種積極的作用，中國政府對“嬰兒安全島”進行試點拓展；截至2014年2月18日，河北、天津等10個省區市已建成25個“棄嬰島”并投入使用，還有18個省區市正在積極籌建“棄嬰島”或棄嬰觀察救治中心。

Tremendous pressure of “Safety Island”

“安全島”壓力重重

Although there are not concrete data about the babies’ conditions in “Safety Island”， after visiting， the reporters found that most babies suffer from severe diseases. It is understood that in 2014， over 95% of the babies in Children’s Welfare House of Harbin are disabled and over 80% are severely disabled babies. The babies suffering from hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy， mental retardation and cerebral palsy are the majority with the percentage of about 40%. The tremendous pressure of “Safety Island” on one hand is from the large increased number of abandoned babies and on the other hand is from the following treatment and rehabilitation of the babies. After the founding of “Baby’s Safety Island” in Guangzhou， nearly 200 babies were adopted in just a month. On the morning of March 3， 2014， the director of Guangzhou Social Welfare Institute said that the beds in their institute were in saturation. “At first there were 1，000 beds. Before the opening of “Baby’s Safety Island”， over 2，000 babies were already in there. After it came into use， the pressure increased a lot. Even though it is beyond the limits， we still want to make a difference.”

對于在“安全島”的嬰兒構成比例以及原因雖沒有確鑿的總體數據，但據記者走訪發現，大多數嬰兒都患有嚴重疾病，據了解，2014年，哈爾濱市兒童福利院的嬰幼兒95%以上都有殘疾，80%以上是重殘兒童。棄嬰中多以缺血缺氧性腦病、精神發育遲滯、腦癱疾病居多，約占40%。而這些也讓“嬰兒安全島”倍感壓力，一方面來自于增加的棄嬰數量，一方面則來自于對于棄嬰后續的治療和養護。在廣州成立“嬰兒安全島“以來，短短一個月接收近200名棄嬰童，2014年3月3日上午，廣州市社會福利院院長表示，目前福利院床位已經飽和。“本來有1000個床位，‘安全島’沒開放時就住了2000多人。‘安全島’啟用后，壓力更大，但在超極限的情況下，我們還是想把這件事做好”。

The Director of Guangzhou Social Welfare Institute Xu Jiu said: “For us， the biggest pressure comes from the feeding and caring of the babies. We are faced with a severe shortage of staff.” The beds in Guangzhou Social Welfare Institute are already very tight， so a lot of babies have to be sent to foster families. Mr. Xu said once there were parents who regret their behavior and wanted to bring their child back. But for the 51 children adopted by “Baby’s Safety Island”， there is no clue for their parents. These practical conditions also make the mission of the service subject to questions and challenges. The available resources are far from meeting the needs. The safety of the abandoned babies once again catches the attention of the society. How to protect the safety of the abandoned babies? What is the critical element in solving the problem?

據廣州市兒童福利院院長許久說:“對于我們來說，壓力最大的還是對孩子的照顧、喂養，長期以來工作人員存在嚴重不足的問題。”由于床位緊張，很多孩子不得不送到寄養家庭托管。徐院長說，之前福利院也出現過一些父母回心轉意接走孩子的情況，但在“安全島”收留的這51個孩子的父母中，至今沒有任何的意向。這些現實情況也讓“嬰兒安全島”的服務宗旨備受質疑和挑戰，現有的資源似乎遠不能滿足需求，棄嬰的安全再一次受到關注。究竟該如何保障棄嬰的安全，而什么才是真正解決棄嬰安全問題的關鍵？