Transient workers deserve respect

A photo that went viral on social media platforms, captioned as homeless migrant workers sleeping outdoors on a roadside in the freezing cold of Beijing, which coincides with the city's 40-day crackdown on rental homes that are potential fire hazards, has been identified as one from the 2015 earthquake in Nepal.

Despite the photo being misused, there have been concerns raised about the campaign since tenants of rental homes found to be "unsafe" in Beijing's ongoing safety checks are being forced to leave en masse. But the city-wide campaign is not driven by a government agenda to get rid of the "low-end population" as some are suggesting.

The November 18 fire in Daxing District, which claimed 19 lives, was a reminder of the deadly potential unsafe rental homes pose, to which the authorities have responded quickly with sweeping checks.