Stolen childhoods

Source:Global Times Published: 2014-10-21 20:08:01

Jiang Wenjun stands in front of paintings of lost children by artist Li Yueling in Beijing. Jiang has been searching for her child for 18 years ever since he was lost at 7 months old. Photo: IC



Human trafficking has wreaked havoc upon thousands of families in China, with untold numbers of children stolen and sold at very young age. Heartbroken parents have traveled the length and breadth of the country in search of their lost beloved ones.

Selling babies is a profitable business in China. Human traffickers are willing to run tremendous risks to steal infants and toddlers, whom are then typically sold to families in remote and rural regions.

Wanting to circumvent the complicated, competitive procedure for adopting babies, many childless families resort to the black market, a problem which is aggravated by infertility among would-be parents, and a preference for boys among some rural areas. Boys sell for a higher price than girls, commanding tens of thousands of yuan.

In recent years, some anti-child trafficking activists have taken their cause to social media, calling on the public to report suspicious people with children, with the police also stepping up efforts to catch human trafficking gangs by establishing a database that matches rescued babies with parents.

Still, the chances of finding a lost child remain slim. Many parents have joined a group dedicated to finding lost children, spending years or even decades looking for their children. Their search has brought them to every corner of China, but the sheer size of the country makes for grim prospects.

The suffering is not limited only to families with lost children; in some cases, families who have bought children are also traumatized when, after years spent caring of them, their "son" or "daughter" is returned to their biological family.

Global Times

Liu Junlin posts a notice for his lost child on the streets. Posting notices is a common practice of parents with lost children, with ransoms ranging from a thousand to a million yuan ($163-163,000). Photo: IC

Cai Lijiao and her husband try to celebrate the second birthday of their baby girl, who was stolen from her bed when she just passed 100 days old. Photo: IC



 

Li Zhongxiang poses with an effigy of child buyer in a truck he drives around China in search of his lost child. Li uses every means possible to attract public attention, including singing sad songs, which he believes can boost the chances of finding his child. Photo: IC

Luo Xingzhen, center, prays in a temple in hopes of finding her child who has been lost for more than a decade. Photo: IC



 

 

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