The pain of a woman who was tricked into being sold as a wife in a foreign land
(Baonghean) - Being tricked and sold to China as a wife when she was not yet 14 years old, living in humiliation for many years, but when she was rescued and returned home, Ngan Thi P. still did not report the incident but silently endured.
Daughter was tricked and sold, father still... haggled!
In mid-August, after just a light rain, the road leading from the center of Nga My commune to Na Ngan village quickly became muddy. Na Ngan is one of the most remote and isolated villages in Tuong Duong district. During the rainy season, this village is almost completely isolated. The distance from the commune headquarters to the village is more than 40 km long, crossing more than 50 streams, it took us more than 3 hours by motorbike to reach the village. This unique road is only wide enough for 1 motorbike to pass, on one side is a cliff, on the other side is a deep abyss, just a little carelessness will be difficult to save your life.
Na Ngan village is poor. Because they live in a remote area with difficult transportation, children in the village have not had a chance to study properly. Ngan Thi P. is one of them. Like many other Thai ethnic children here, P. grew up naturally like a po mu tree in the forest. As soon as she started walking, she had to follow her parents through the forest to the fields. P. did not have the chance to go to school, even for just one day.
The dream of escaping poverty is always burning in the mind of the mountain girl. P. wants to escape from the vicious cycle of poverty in this remote mountain area. She believes that only going to China can help her “change her life”.
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| Ngan Thi P. (sitting), talking to the investigator. Photo: Tien Hung |
That is why, when she was not yet 14 years old, Ngan Thi P. and Luong Thi Ng. (15 years old, from Na Ngan village) went to see Lo Thi Thanh (from Nga My commune) to ask for help to take them to China to work. When she met the two girls, Thanh immediately thought of tricking and selling them. Thanh then discussed with Luong Thi Khay (from Yen Hoa commune) to take the two girls to China to sell them to a woman from the same hometown of Tuong Duong who was living there.
In China, the two girls were auctioned off by human traffickers. Ngan Thi P. was then sold to a 20-year-old man for 60,000 yuan. Like many other women who were tricked into marrying Chinese men, P.'s time here was a tragedy. She was beaten all day long and lived like a slave. P. tried to escape many times, but had no money and did not know the language. It was not until 2017, after 5 years of "living in hell", that P. was rescued when the Chinese police organized a crackdown on illegal immigrants. But when she was brought back to her hometown, P. silently accepted it and did not dare to denounce those who had tricked her.
"This girl said that because she was illiterate, she could not write a complaint."
Meanwhile, not as lucky as P., the girl who accompanied Luong Thi Ng. had to endure beatings from her husband's family for 7 years. It is worth mentioning that Ng.'s father, after learning that his daughter was tricked and sold to China to be someone else's wife, did not report it to the authorities, but only "bargained" with the traffickers to earn some money. After receiving nearly 30 million VND from these traffickers twice with the request "not to report", this man accepted "losing his daughter".
It was not until mid-June 2019, after 7 years of being a wife in a foreign land, that Luong Thi Ng. was rescued by Nghe An Police in coordination with the Blue Dragon Children's Organization. Returning to Na Ngan village, with years of resentment, Ng. overcame her fear to denounce the human traffickers. Less than a month later, Luong Thi Khay and Lo Thi Thanh were arrested one after another. Both have now been prosecuted for "Buying and selling children", waiting to pay for the crimes they committed 7 years ago.
Sophisticated tricks
According to the Criminal Police Department, 12 to 16 cases of human trafficking are discovered in Nghe An every year. The victims are mainly women and children aged 14 to 30. Most of the victims are ethnic minorities in the districts of Tuong Duong, Ky Son, Que Phong... The need for material life has pushed them to be lured and deceived into being sold. Most of the people who are sold are forced into prostitution or become wives of Chinese men. Meanwhile, most of the victims who escape or are rescued return in a state of psychological instability.
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| Lo Thi T. was arrested after 7 years of selling 2 girls. Photo: Tien Hung |
In addition to the number of identified victims, in mountainous villages, every year many women and children leave their homes and are also suspected of being trafficked.
According to criminal investigators, in the past, human trafficking crimes in Nghe An were mostly committed by people from border provinces or those doing business in China who came back to connect with local people under the guise of recruiting workers to work for companies with high salaries to trick them into selling. Some people even pretended to flirt and fall in love to invite them to travel, and after satisfying their desires, they sold them to get money to spend. In particular, some people even brought their family members to sell.
Recently, these subjects often target women and children who are lazy, playful, and competitive... in the same area as them and then approach them online. When talking, they often introduce a rich and prosperous life in a foreign country. When the victims are confused and have not made a decision, they promise to give them money in advance and cover all the expenses to go to China.
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| After seven years of suffering in China, Luong Thi Ng. overcame her fear to write a petition denouncing human traffickers. Photo: Tien Hung |
Notably, in many recent cases, the human traffickers were former victims. When living in China, they knew about the need to marry Vietnamese women, so they connected with Chinese people to form human trafficking rings and then returned to their homeland to find "goods".
Meanwhile, according to the investigation of the border force, when transporting the victims, the traffickers did not allow them to bring money or valuable assets to limit the victims' ability to escape. These people also used many different names to conceal their identities.
Recently, the subjects often play on the psychology of greed for money, giving the family a sum of money in advance called "salary advance" to create trust. Regarding the plot, the intention of the subjects does not stop at selling the victims to exploit their labor, to become prostitutes or wives of Chinese men, but sometimes they also take them to a third country, buy and sell them for body parts...
