By Tsering Dhundup
DHARAMSHALA, Oct 10: One of the four students who had gone missing in March 2023 from Second Middle School in the so-called Chuchen (Jinchuan in Chinese) County, Ngaba Tibetan and Jiang Autonomous Prefecture has reportedly escaped a human trafficking operation and returned safely to their home, according to research group Tibet Watch.
The research group said that before their disappearance in March, eight students were contacted by a Chinese businessman from Sungchu (Ch: Songpan) County in the Ngaba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture. The businessman had promised these students that he would facilitate their escape to India and secure employment for them, reassuring them of financial, passports, and safety concerns.
Following these instructions, the eight students left their school in Chuchen (Ch: Jinchuan) County to meet the businessman in Lhasa. However, despite his earlier assurances regarding financial matters, he began to question whether they had enough money with them, causing four of the students to grow suspicious. Consequently, they decided to find their way to India, leading to their detention by Chinese authorities.
The remaining students who continued to stay with the businessman were taken to the Myanmar border, where they were handed over to individuals believed to be affiliated with a criminal organization. These students were loaded onto a truck and driven into Myanmar, a journey spanning multiple days, with travel conducted only at night and rest taken during the daytime. The students several different trucks during their journey and obtained various checkpoint permit documents.
At some point along their journey on the Myanmar side of the border, the students were separated and sent to different places. The student who would later manage to escape was taken to a compound situated in a forest, enclosed by electric fencing and barbed wire, housing a four/five-story building.
Upon arrival, the student was given a brief respite for a couple of days and provided with food. However, following this period, the individuals overseeing them demanded a substantial sum of over 1,000,000RMB (approximately £113,830) from the student. When it became apparent that the student lacked the required funds, they were presented with two options: working off the debt or seeking financial assistance from their parents.
The student was granted the opportunity to contact their family and request the necessary funds. The family was informed that a criminal organization had purchased their child from a human trafficking group, necessitating a ransom of 3,000,000RMB (approximately £341,430) for their release. The criminal organization asserted that their acquisition of the child, rather than kidnapping or abduction, made them legal owners, absolving them of criminal wrongdoing.
The family consented to pay the specified amount to secure their child’s release, while also reaching out to the police for help. Regrettably, the family reported a lack of cooperation from the local Chinese police in Tawu County, who explained that the matter pertained to foreign human trafficking operations and fell beyond their jurisdiction, thereby refusing to assist.
The family transferred the ransom but were subsequently confronted with further requests from the criminal organization, aimed at covering additional expenses related to food, travel, and permits. Initially reluctant to comply with these demands due to their previous contributions, the family ultimately felt compelled to do so.
Seeking guidance and concerned for their child’s safety, the family consulted a Buddhist Lama, who prophesied that the child should escape as soon as possible, warning that delay would render escape impossible. Trapped in the compound in Myanmar, the family managed to convey this message to their child, who seized the opportunity to escape under the cover of night, jumping from the second story of the building and fleeing into the forest.
The child successfully reached a village near the Myanmar border, where they contacted their family, prompting three family members to enter Myanmar and safely retrieve the child. Now safely back with their family, the student shared their distressing experience, disclosing the presence of numerous young people in the compound, some of whom were recruited into trafficking gangs through brutal tests involving torture and murder. Others were coerced into luring their friends into similar trafficking situations. They also claimed that those unable to fulfil this task faced further torment, were sold, or had their organs harvested.
The safety, well-being, and whereabouts of the remaining three students who were detained in a separate location in Myanmar remain unknown.
