The painful problem of human trafficking: Selling one's own loved ones for money

(Baonghean) - Huge profits blind many people, willing to sell their conscience to get rich off the bodies of their fellow human beings. More heartbreakingly, some people are willing to sell their own relatives.

» Priest Nguyen Dinh Thuc incited parishioners

Sell ​​your loved ones

At the age of 15, Luong Thi Pe, a resident of Bao Thang commune, Ky Son district, got married, but the marriage soon broke down because both Pe and her husband were too young. After returning to her parents' home for a while, Pe was sold to a group of people in China for 80 million VND by her older sister, Luong Thi Kham (20 years old).

The group that organized the transfer of Luong Thi Pe to China was arrested by Ky Son District Police in May 2016. Photo: Lu Phu

It is worth mentioning that when he advanced the amount of 10 million VND, Pe's father only thought that his daughter would marry a foreigner and that it was the "first step" money, without thinking that his daughter could be sold to a brothel or forced to do hard labor. Fortunately, before being taken to China, Pe was rescued by officers and soldiers of the Ky Son District Police.

Selling relatives to human traffickers to take them to China, like the case of Luong Thi Kham’s family, is not uncommon in mountainous districts. In the past 5-6 years, human trafficking crimes in the province, especially in mountainous districts, have become more complicated.

Xiangyang County currently has more than 2,300 illegal overseas workers, including more than 1,200 women. Xiangyang County police said that in recent times, they have broken up many cases and arrested many suspects, but the human trafficking situation is still complicated. Many people were sold to China, then escaped and returned home before their families found out.

The trick that the subjects often use is to recruit workers to work at companies, work for hire or invite them to do business with high salaries to deceive gullible women. To strengthen the trust of the victims and their families, the subjects on the one hand use letters and photos to introduce people who have gone to work and become rich. On the other hand, they are willing to generously advance the victims' travel expenses or salaries...

Lieutenant Colonel Hoang Ngoc Manh - Deputy Head of the Drug Prevention Department (Nghe An Border Guard) said: For each victim sold across the border, after deducting all expenses for travel, accommodation and "advance" money for the victims, the subjects make a profit of 100 - 200 million VND. The huge profits blind many subjects, even selling their conscience to get rich on the bodies of their fellow human beings.

Need a synchronous solution

Through the human trafficking cases discovered by the authorities, it is shown that the targets are mainly children and women from 14 to 30 years old or "old-age" women, those with especially difficult family circumstances. Most are still young girls with the idea of ​​leaving their hometown, hoping to find leisurely jobs with high income.

In Tuong Duong district, Nga My and Tam Quang communes are hot spots for human trafficking. The underlying causes are lack of jobs and low awareness. In addition, gullibility, lack of legal knowledge, hedonistic thinking, and laziness of some people have unintentionally contributed to human trafficking.

Although human trafficking has many complex consequences, fighting this type of crime is still very difficult. Authorities said that in most cases, the family reports the case long after the subject has taken the person out of the locality, so the investigation is not timely.

Faced with the complicated developments of human trafficking crimes, in recent times, the Police and Border Guard forces have taken many measures to coordinate with local authorities to organize propaganda, combined with the fight against and prevent the activities of human trafficking crimes.

Ngoc Lam Border Guard Station, Nghe An Border Guard coordinated with the Traffic Police force to fight and arrest a human trafficking suspect. Photo: Phuong Linh

Police units and localities, especially in areas with problems of human trafficking, focus on surveying the situation of human trafficking crimes, thereby making a list of victims of trafficking and those with criminal records for human trafficking, and at the same time, setting up networks and groups with signs of suspected human trafficking crimes to have a plan to fight and eradicate them.

In the past time, the authorities have rescued and approached more than 100 victims of human trafficking who returned home. These victims have been supported with initial conditions such as travel expenses, psychological and medical counseling, and organizations have visited, encouraged and assisted the victims to reintegrate into the community as soon as the victims returned to their localities.

In addition, organizations and unions have organized many campaigns and propaganda campaigns to inform the villagers about the consequences of human trafficking through forms such as dramatization, skits combined with mobilizing the entire population to participate in preventing and fighting crime. In addition, at some "hot spots", the Women's Union, Youth Union and other organizations have had effective propaganda and mobilization models.

In Don Phuc commune (Con Cuong), since July 2013, the "Shield" Club of Hong Dien village has been established to propagate and mobilize people, especially women and young girls in the village to stay away from the temptation and enticement of bad guys.

Or the "Anti-Human Trafficking Prevention Club", established by the Women's Union and the Tam Quang Commune Police Department (Tuong Duong) in coordination with the Nghe An Provincial Police Women's Union since the end of 2014, has become a trusted address, contributing to raising awareness and skills to prevent human trafficking crimes in general and trafficking of women and children in particular...

However, the fundamental solution to prevent this situation is to improve people's lives, especially those in mountainous districts.

Nguyen Hung