Beef up border vigil to end 'bride trade'

Abducted Vietnamese women are seen at the border of China and Vietnam when they were returned home Jan 22, 2015.[Photo/Ecns.cn]

The abductions of Vietnamese women by "matrimonial agencies" to get them married to Chinese men have become a sore point for China. The "matrimonial agents" get handsomely paid for "introducing" the abducted Vietnamese women to Chinese bachelors desperate for a wife regardless of her nationality, making the marriages a brutal violation of human rights and criminal law. Such cases are nothing but human trafficking.

Most of the "agencies" don't have licenses to provide matchmaking services, and even if some of them do, abducting women (or for that matter anyone) is still a crime, for which all the "agencies" and "agents" should be prosecuted according to China's criminal law on human trafficking.

There is a twist here, though. Some "agents" or "brokers" - on both sides of the China-Vietnam border - conspire with the "abducted women" to defraud unknowing Chinese men by arranging for the "brides" to escape after they receive their "bride payment". This makes the cases more complicated, because they involve kidnapping and human trafficking, as well as fraud committed by the kidnappers and their "hostages". In such cases, the abductors and hostages both should be brought to justice.

Another worrying angle to such cases is that some women on the Chinese side of the border pretend to be Vietnamese or other nationals in order to extract higher "bride prices" from Chinese grooms and then, in some cases, run away with the help of their "agents". This is a fraud that also involves the deliberate distortion of personal facts, including one's nationality.

To prevent human trafficking and unsolicited marriages - conducted with or without the motive of defrauding Chinese bachelors - the first thing needed is enhanced international cooperation and concerted crackdown on cross-border human trafficking, in most of which "agents" and "agencies" from both sides of the border are involved. The countries, including China and Vietnam, that share long borders across which human trafficking is rampant, should exchange regular information on movements across the borders and take immediate measures to repatriate illegal immigrants even if they are smuggled-in brides.

The European Commission set a good example in 2012 by presenting a five-year plan against human trafficking for European Union countries. According to the plan, all EU member states, supported by the European Police Office as well as non-governmental organizations, have to set up their own special organizations and shared investigation bodies to end human trafficking. The plan includes provisions for providing medical treatment to the victims, who also have the right to reside and work under both the EU and local laws.

Taking a cue from the EU plan, Chinese law enforcement officers should periodically raid trans-border "matrimonial agencies" and close them down if they are found guilty of human trafficking. Also, all related departments should be apprised of the developments and must be fully aware of their responsibilities in different cases.

In particular, law enforcement officers should take in Vietnamese women and children without proper papers or who are suspected of being abducted by human traffickers for investigation and registration (if needed). Also, Chinese border agencies need to be alert 24/7 to foil human traffickers from smuggling in "brides" from Vietnam.

And Chinese bachelors looking to get a bride from Vietnam have to be warned that "purchasing" a woman even for marriage is a crime, for which they will face criminal charges. They should also be warned about how some "agents" and "foreign brides" collude to cheat them in order to make them see reality.

The author, Chen Wei, is a professor of law at Southwest University of Political Science & Law in Chongqing.