14-Year-Old Calls for Help After Three Weeks in Chinese Police Station
2 min read
Nat Sopheap
| Fri Jan 8, 2021 4:04 pm
In a voice message, a 14-year-old girl said she was pregnant after four months of abuse by her Chinese “husband,” and was now stuck at a Chinese police station for three weeks hoping Cambodian authorities would bring her home.

Cambodia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry this week confirmed it was aware of the case, and said it was working to prepare documents for her homecoming.

In voice messages last month and on Wednesday, the girl — whose identity is being withheld to protect the sex-trafficking victim — said she was cheated by a broker, promised a job in China but made to live with a man instead after she arrived.

She had been in China for four months, and was beaten by her “husband” almost every day, she said. Three weeks ago she fled on foot to a police station seeking help, traveling about 10 km of streets she didn’t know, she said.

“I am still at the police station, because no one has contacted me to take me to Cambodia. It is difficult to eat. I am pregnant. I want to get to Cambodia soon,” she said on Wednesday.

Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Koy Kuong said Cambodian Embassy officials in China were aware of the case and had already interviewed the 14-year-old victim.

The embassy was preparing a letter to bring her back to Cambodia soon, Kuong said.

Dy Thehoya, a program officer at labor rights group Central, urged embassies and consulates to take swift action to help trafficking victims.
“When there is a problem, and the guardians representing the nation, representing the whole country, do not take effective action, it diminishes our nation’s standing,” Thehoya said.

Based on interviews with previous victims, collusion with some local officials was enabling the trafficking of underage victims out of the country, he added.
Full article: https://vodenglish.news/14-year-old-cal ... e-station/

There's a county on the border of Wales where it's legal to shoot somebody with a bow and arrow. One in the mouth does the trick

John Bingham wrote: ↑Fri Jan 08, 2021 10:44 pm That's really fucked up. How the hell is a minor allowed to travel abroad for work? I wonder whether these girls are flown out on passports that show they are older, or false documents, or just driven through Laos in the back of a truck? What a nightmare for the girl.

Agree with you.

Based on interviews with previous victims, collusion with some local officials was enabling the trafficking of underage victims out of the country, he added.

Based on news items, I'd say that a lot of Cambodian China "brides" (slaves) are smuggled through Vietnam to China. If you can "smuggle" truck loads of illegal wood across the border from Cambodia to Vietnam, then a few young Cambodian girls shouldn't be a problem.

Yeah it's quite easy to get fake documentation here, but you'd think border control would be able to tell the difference between a 14 year old and an 18 year old. Going over land would require a lot of pockets to be greased (or a lot of lot by the traffickers), which I suppose is possible, but less likely I'd think. They should widely publicize these cases to make people think twice about going over, about promises that are too good to be true, sending their children to work, and so on.

jaynewcastle wrote: ↑Fri Jan 08, 2021 11:43 pm

John Bingham wrote: ↑Fri Jan 08, 2021 10:44 pm That's really fucked up. How the hell is a minor allowed to travel abroad for work? I wonder whether these girls are flown out on passports that show they are older, or false documents, or just driven through Laos in the back of a truck? What a nightmare for the girl.

Completely agree, and you do wonder what role her parents played in this too, as no mention of them at all

Thats the saddest part, and you see it in rural Thailand as well as Cambodia, where daughters are seen as a commodity to make some money for the family, either by going to the city and ending up in a bar, or being sold off to traffickers. 'Uncles' regularly tour the villages looking for prospects and negotiating with parents who are swayed by the dollars on offer. Been that way for a long time now, its practically part of the culture.

pissontheroof wrote: ↑Sat Jan 09, 2021 11:01 am

John Bingham wrote: ↑Fri Jan 08, 2021 10:44 pm That's really fucked up. How the hell is a minor allowed to travel abroad for work? I wonder whether these girls are flown out on passports that show they are older, or false documents, or just driven through Laos in the back of a truck? What a nightmare for the girl.

My little baby girl was stolen from me after the mother died of HIV and my name wasn’t on the birth certificate, I saw her passport and have a picture of it , the stealers completely lied and said it was their baby and made a real phony passport , I reported it to scotland yard with a picture of her British passport and asked what they could do , I have some back and forth emails but they basically laffed
If she got an american passport I would have told the FBI and i gaurantee they would not laff

With my kid now I went to the police and told them to get my kid away from the mother who put some muslim name as the father and gave my kid a muslim name , I was pissed !

All straight now , I got the son away from the bad mother and got my name on the birth certificate and gave him a nice american name that is also a cambodian word
See if you can guess his name ( hint : not donald)
My kid is my only friend in cambodia

"Lord I was born a ramblin man" (Allman Brothers)