Lao Authorities and Women’s Union Assist Trafficking Victims
Lao authorities in cooperation with the Lao Women’s Union have successfully assisted two young women who became victims of human trafficking.
The young women, aged between 14 and 16 years, were to be trafficked to China following a deal brokered between their parents and a trafficking organization.
According to sources close to the case, the victims’ parents were contacted by traffickers through text messages and told that their daughters could fetch up to LAK 40 million (USD 4,000) as a dowry if they traveled to China and married Chinese men.
The money was to be paid after the girls arrived in China.
The girls had not been attending secondary school due to the Covid-19 pandemic, while their parents admitted to having financial difficulties.
The young women traveled with a Lao couple, who acted as trafficking brokers, from Vientiane Capital to Luang Namtha on 12 June.
Phayboune Thanabouasy
