Number of homeless children in Russia growing

600,000 homeless children have been registered in Russia over the nine months of this year. They do not go to school but tramp the streets, said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Valentina Matviyenko at a meeting with President Putin on Monday. Their number has increased threefold as compared with the last year, she said.

The government is conducting intensive work with homeless children, considering their future and setting up a special database on all neglected children. The number of social orphanages for the homeless has increased, Matviyenko reported. For example, in Moscow their number has grown from 300 till 2,000.

On the whole, work with homeless children is gradually improving, the deputy prime minister believes. The agreement with the CIS countries on the order of repatriation of children that are not Russian citizens has come into force, she added.

Work with such children should not be neglected, President Putin emphasized at the meeting.