Category: Human trafficking

Binh was trafficked when he was just 14. His mother, raising 2 sons alone since the death of their father, thought that Binh was going to learn a trade. Living in extreme poverty, she couldn’t afford to pay school fees for Binh or his little brother Hien. When some traffickers came along, posing as intermediaries for a training program in Ho Chi Minh City, Binh’s mother believed she’d finally had a lucky break. Instead, Binh was sold to a garment factory. He became a slave, working on an industrial sewing machine up to 18 hours a…

Thanh was 16 when she was sold. She was a good student at school, and loved her family deeply. Growing up in a small city in northern Vietnam, with parents who cared for her, Thanh never imagined that anything like this could happen to her. If you made a list of all the typical vulnerabilities that can increase the risk of being trafficked, she would match almost none of them. Except, of course, that she is a girl in a world that objectifies and commodifies women. It was a friend…

On Sunday, Blue Dragon’s Rescue Team set free 4 children from slavery in sweatshops. Two girls and two boys, aged 11 to 13, had been trafficked from their homes in central Vietnam 6 months ago. Living in extreme poverty in a rural village, their families were easily deceived when some kind women came to their home offering training and education in the big city to the south. I can’t post photos showing their faces; if I did, you would not believe that they are aged 11 to 13. They are…