Whatever comes next, though, Ha has surely been through the worst that life has to offer. She is no longer a victim; she is a survivor.

Director of Not For Sale Vietnam

Both Vietnam and China have had lockdowns. This restriction on movement has been essential in keeping people safe from the coronavirus. And it’s made life a living hell for people who are trapped in slavery.

In early July, Not For Sale Vietnam partners Blue Dragon rescued Ha, a young woman who was taken into China just over 12 months ago.

Her story is similar to the hundreds we’ve heard before: she thought she knew the trafficker, thought he was a friend, believed she was on her way to a job.

What happened to her in China was particularly terrifying. She was sold to a violent man but refused to comply; she fought back, and was punished severely for it. The trafficker returned and sold her to another man; and then another.

Each time she was sold, Ha’s nightmare escalated. And when COVID-19 caused the city to be locked down, Ha found herself trapped inside an apartment around the clock with the latest horrid man who was bent on forcing her into submission. The only act of rebellion left to her was to steal a telephone and call back to Vietnam for help.

Taking someone’s phone and calling home in secret is an extremely dangerous act. Had she been discovered, she could have been beaten brutally. We know of women who have been killed for trying to escape.

It was in April that she first called; Ha was among 30 women and girls whose desperate SOS came to us in the most awful of circumstances, when there was little we could do to get them to immediate safety.

Now that the lockdowns have eased, we are bringing them home one by one. Blue Dragon’s rescue team reached Ha and brought her back across the border as soon as travel was possible. In accordance with the law, she went straight to quarantine.

A lockdown of a different kind, but this time Ha was safe.

Over the weekend, Ha’s quarantine period came to an end. She is now free to reunite with her family and start over. We picked her up from the quarantine centre and brought her to a safe house where she can receive counselling, medical treatment, and legal advice before returning to her hometown when she’s ready.

Ha’s year of terror will always be there; nothing can erase the scars of slavery altogether.

Whatever comes next, though, Ha has surely been through the worst that life has to offer. She is no longer a victim; she is a survivor.

Ha has survived a lockdown of the most terrifying kind. She is free today because she refused to accept her fate and took a chance to call for help.

We cannot stop working until every person – child or adult – has their freedom as Ha does

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This is the reality of human trafficking. Humanity is stripped from the victim; abuse upon abuse violates their most fundamental rights. And so often, it is those who are already poor and suffering who are most likely to be the target of this crime.

Not For Sale Vietnam Director

Once she was back in Vietnam, Anh’s first destination was a quarantine centre, and two weeks later she finally reached a Blue Dragon safe house.

When NFS Vietnam and Blue Dragon rescue a person from trafficking, we offer a full range of services: accommodation, counseling, clothing and food, and of course health care.

Anh’s visit to the hospital led to a shocking revelation. She was 8 months pregnant.

There was almost no visible sign that she was pregnant, and Anh had never even thought it possible. The man in Inner Mongolia who had bought her was sterile.

Anh was in shock. Having been held captive for the past 5 years, she has very little education and experience of the world. But she knew that some months previously she had been taken to a clinic and undergone an invasive procedure. On reflection, it appears she was artificially impregnated without her knowledge.

For this young woman, just going on 19, the discovery that she would soon be a mother was a massive blow. Just when she thought she could start to take control of her life, this unexpected development was the last thing she could have imagined.

But Anh is incredibly strong, and after making statements to police in Hanoi, she was ready to return to her home and be reunited with her mother.

Blue Dragon staff accompanied her home, meeting the family and along the way learning that Anh comes from extreme poverty. Her family house is made of empty shrimp feed bags stitched together and tied to a frame.

Anh and her mother, reunited in their family home after 5 years apart

Despite the incredible hardship and the shock of being pregnant, Anh was overjoyed to be home. Her reunion with her mother was desperately sad. They have missed such important time together and have so much now to make up for.

Just a few days after returning home, Anh started feeling pain. Her mother rushed her to the hospital where she gave birth – to twins. A boy and a girl.

At just 32 weeks, they are in a very fragile state and both in incubation. Their start to life has been everything it should not but they are alive and in good care.

This is the reality of human trafficking. Humanity is stripped from the victim; abuse upon abuse violates their most fundamental rights. And so often, it is those who are already poor and suffering who are most likely to be the target of this crime.

This is why we have to rid our world of this scourge. Anh’s story is far from over, and Blue Dragon will be working with her for some years yet. A wonderful family in the US has sent an incredible gift of $3,500 to pay for the care, food and medical treatment that Anh and her two children need; this will get them through a year or more.

In coming weeks we may put out a call to help rebuild Anh’s house, or help her buy land somewhere so that she doesn’t have to raise her babies in such a dire situation. We don’t yet know exactly what will be needed but this family deserves all the help they can get.

No matter how you look at it, Anh is the victim of some terrible injustices. While we can’t turn back the clock and stop them from happening to her, we can make sure she and her children have a future worth living.

And while we do that, we will continue fighting against human trafficking until every child, woman and man is safe from it.

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At a time when our world is bleeding, there’s such an enormous need for healing and care. Child by child, family by family, we have an obligation to help those around us who haven’t been given a fair chance in life.

Director of Not For Sale Vietnam

Phi spent almost 2 months begging and sleeping on the city streets before a Blue Dragon social worker met him. He lost count of how many times he was approached by pimps and pedophiles offering to ‘help’, but despite his desperation he was determined to stay safe.

After a few days in a Blue Dragon shelter, Phi trusted us to take him home. One of the social workers made the long journey with him back to his village; by bus, motorbike, and sometimes on foot when the road turned into nothing but mud.

With their son missing for two months, Phi’s parents had been beside themselves with worry. They reported to the police but had no information or idea where their son could be. They feared the worst.

Blue Dragon and Not For Sale Vietnam do offer homes to young people, boys and girls, who cannot stay with their families, but in the vast majority of cases, children and their parents are better off together, so long as they get some support to make it work.

For Phi, that means helping his parents understand how to better show their love for their son, and some practical help with basic needs as they continue to recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

It also meant a trip to Phi’s school, along with Phi and his mother, to make sure he could re-enroll and return to class immediately. Because his home is so remote, Phi studies in a boarding school, so he will live there during the week and go home for weekends.

The teachers have promised to look out for Phi and to check on him if he stops turning up to class. They didn’t know he was having such difficulty at home; now they do, and they’ve committed to making sure he’s OK.

Our experience is that once we have taken a child home and spoken with the family and community, home life almost always becomes much more tolerable for kids like Phi. Their suffering and their struggle becomes visible; the people around them wake up to their needs and take on the responsibility to care for them.

At a time when our world is bleeding, there’s such an enormous need for healing and care. Child by child, family by family, we have an obligation to help those around us who haven’t been given a fair chance in life.

Phi never asked to be born into extreme poverty, or to have an alcoholic father. He deserves the chance to make something of his life, so that his generation can leave behind a world that’s much fairer and just than the one they have inherited.

Phi is now safe and will continue receiving support from Blue Dragon and Not For Sale Vietnam for as long as he needs it. He sees that life has the possibility of something better. And Blue Dragon is back out on the streets looking for more children just like him, who are yet to get the chance that they need to turn their lives around.

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