VNExpress-Nov 22
Officials and police in a remote central Vietnamese district are working to prevent pregnant women from crossing the border and selling their newborns to Chinese buyers. A day in mid-November, Cut Van Thuan, 43, a village head in Huu Kiem Commune, Ky Son District, Nghe An Province came to visit several pregnant women in the neighborhood. He was joined by four police officers and several officials in the commune. Their purpose was to keep a close eye on the women to prevent them from going to China to give birth and sell their newborns. Located in the middle mountainous forests, villages in Huu Kiem Commune are home to a large community of Kho Mu people. In 2018 and 2019 three villages emerged as hotspots for baby harvesting and the systematic sale of newborns. In those two years, 21 Kho Mu women crossed the border and sold their newborn children to Chinese families. Most of them come from poor families and do not go to school. In early 2022, Huu Kiem Commune decided to act to prevent the practice before it began. A task force of 10 officials and police officers from the commune was formed with the mission of educating locals on the dangers of human trafficking and illegal migration. Eve ry week, they come to monitor pregnant women and urge their families to sign a commitment to “not sell babies.” China, the world’s most populous country, suffers from one of the worst gender imbalance rates in the world due to the one-child policy and the illegal abortion of female fetuses. This has been a major factor behind the trafficking of Vietnamese women and girls across the border, and now, newborns. Read more at: https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/task-force-curbing-traffic-of-newborns-to-china-4679777.html
