Crushing cross-border trafficking

China works with Vietnam, other nearby countries in a crusade to save kidnapped women forced into marriage and sex slavery. Zhang Yan reports.

'If it hadn't been for Chinese police, I can only imagine what my life would be like now," said a 20-year-old Vietnamese woman who was kidnapped in late 2017 and forced into an illegal marriage in China.

The woman, who finally returned to her homeland in December, has been identified by the police as A Lan. She was living in the suburb of a Vietnamese city with her younger brother, sister and parents, who are in their 60s. They eked out a living by growing and selling vegetables.

Lan met someone who she believed could help her and her family escape poverty.

"I was cheated by the agent who promised me a well-paying job in China to support my family," she said. "But I fell into despair when I became an illegal bride in Anhui province."

She said the trafficker sold her to a local villager in the city of Bengbu. The man, in his 50s, had physical disabilities.

"I needed to do most of the housework. I struggled every day and tried every means to escape," she said.

In early 2018, Anhui police found nine Vietnamese women who had no legal residence documents and claimed they were the wives of local men. While investigating, police discovered a cross-border women trafficking ring that was operated by a local man surnamed Zhu and his Vietnamese wife.

Police said the couple, both in their 40s, conspired with their Vietnamese counterparts to lure 11 Vietnamese women on the pretext of introducing them to high-paying jobs, traveling or marrying rich Chinese men to change their lives.

They then arranged for them to be smuggled into China by river. Upon arriving, the Chinese suspects arranged their food and accommodations and later transported them to Anhui to seek clients.

"The ultimate reason behind women trafficking is to obtain high profits," the police said. "The couple received 3,000 to 10,000 yuan ($420 to $1,400) from the traffickers for each woman as an introduction fee. Then the traffickers shared fees ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 yuan from the buyer for each abducted woman."

In July and August last year, the police arrested Zhu, his wife and 30 other suspects, including eight Vietnamese trafficking suspects. Police discovered the group had conducted 29 crimes related to women trafficking.

The police rescued 11 Vietnamese women, eight of whom were returned to Vietnam in December.

A Lan was just one of hundreds of female victims who were abducted and sent to China last year and either forced into marriage or made to work as prostitutes.

"Human trafficking has not only seriously harmed the legitimate rights of these women, but also fostered crimes such as smuggling, illegal marriage and fraud," said Guo Lin, a spokeswoman from the Ministry of Public Security. "Women are not commodities, and they should not be trafficked. We have a 'zero tolerance' attitude toward human trafficking and will deepen pragmatic law enforcement cooperation with Southeast Asian countries to curb such crimes."

Chain of interest

According to the ministry, the border between China and some Southeast Asian countries, including Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam is very long, and there are few natural barriers. Many people living on both sides have common ancestry, so cross-border marriages are common and locals frequently move between the border areas without checks.

"Conditions in the subtropical region offer the suspects opportunities to illegally send young women from Southeast Asian countries across the border under the pretext of traveling, introducing them to well-paying jobs or marrying wealthy Chinese men," said Yang Yi, a police officer from the frontier inspection station in Ruili, a border city in Yunnan province.

Moreover, there are large economic and social differences between China and Southeast Asian countries, so many foreign women who intend to move to China to look for wealthy men are targeted and easily deceived by the traffickers.

Data provided by the ministry show that between July and December last year, police from China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia cracked 634 women trafficking cases and captured 1,332 suspects, including 153 foreign nationals.

In addition, they rescued 1,130 abducted women who were sold to buyers in China for illegal marriage or to engage in sex work. Police also uncovered 126 cases of fraudulent marriage and detained 202 suspects, including 109 foreign nationals.

"Most of the foreign victims came from poor rural areas and had low levels of education," said Chen Shiqu, deputy director of the ministry's Criminal Investigation Bureau.

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Crushing cross-border trafficking

Chen said the ministry adheres to global protocols to keep the victims safe until they are repatriated or meet the necessary requirements to remain in China.

"We strictly follow relevant international conventions and bilateral anti-human trafficking treaties to fully protect the rescued foreign women who had been kidnapped and make timely arrangements for their resettlement," Chen said.

He added that the bureau has guided 600 victims to apply for cross-border marriage certificates and residence permits.

According to Liu Zhongyi, the bureau's director, traffickers tend to target foreign women between the ages of 20 and 30 in rural areas. They either offer them good-paying jobs in businesses or the service industry or good marriage prospects.

Then they arrange for them to illegally enter China and send them to their Chinese accomplices, who then transport the victims to different regions of the country and either traffic them for bribes or sell them for marriage or sex services.

He said the price for each woman ranges from 50,000 to 120,000 yuan based on their nationality, age, shape and appearance.

Chen said police attach great importance to protecting the victims' rights.

"After saving them, we properly place them rather than detain them," he said. "We communicate with our counterparts in Southeast Asian countries and send the women victims back to their home countries."

Those who wish to stay in China should apply for their marriage documents and legal residence permits, he said.

It mainly depends on the women's will. For example, if they are pregnant, have become familiar with the environment or want to continue the marriage, they can go to their local public security department to apply for a residence permit or go to their civil affairs department to obtain marriage documents. Meanwhile, their husbands who purchased them will be held criminally accountable. Sometimes, though, the husbands don't serve their sentences in prison and will obtain a guarantor pending trial.

Severe punishments

According to Chinese law, it's illegal to set up agencies that deal in cross-border marriages. The law forbids any agent or institute from engaging in foreign-related marriage businesses, and they are not allowed to use deception or be involved with cross-border marriages to seek profits.

Chen said there is a big difference between cross-border marriages and transnational trafficking of women. In recent years, due to frequent population mobility and diplomatic contacts, legal cross-border marriages are on the rise.

"But those who use deceptive means to target the women, taking them against their will and forcing them to serve as brides and work as prostitutes will be held criminally accountable," he said.

Liu Peng, from the Beijing Lawyers Association, said that according to a notice issued by Chinese judicial authorities in 2017, people who abduct or transport women or children for the purpose of trading will be charged with trafficking. They could serve as few as five years in prison or as much as life imprisonment, or even the death penalty, depending on the nature of the case.

"If the circumstances are extremely serious, including causing the victims' death, they will face the death penalty, and their money and properties will be confiscated," Liu said.

According to Chen, China is planning to punish buyers more severely. Those who purchase abducted women or children will face prison terms of no more than three years.

Judicial cooperation

Liu Zhongyi said judicial authorities face practical challenges identifying such crimes and breaking the profit chain.

"We face difficulties in grasping the evidence, managing and controlling the borders and busting major women trafficking rings," he said.

According to the ministry, China has signed bilateral agreements on fighting human trafficking with Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand.

The country has also established eight border offices with neighboring countries, including four with Vietnam, to assist in curbing human trafficking, the ministry said.

Liu said China will strengthen intelligence sharing and joint investigation cooperation with the five Southeast Asian countries on some major and individual human trafficking cases.

Moreover, police will tighten border management and strengthen regular and irregular patrols on key areas on the border, such as bus stations, docks and small roads in the countryside or mountainous regions. This effort could block channels for suspects to smuggle women to China, greatly curbing human trafficking cases.

"Under pragmatic cooperation, police in China and their counterparts from Southeast Asian countries will share information in a timely manner, make immediate deployments and conduct unified action to completely smash the human trafficking rings and cut off their criminal networks," said Dai Peng, a law professor from the People's Public Security University of China in Beijing.

Editor: Wang Shixue