629 Pakistani girls sold as brides

Page after page, the names pile up: 629 girls and women from all over Pakistan who were sold as brides to Chinese men and brought to China. The list, obtained from The Associated Press, was compiled by Pakistani investigators determined to break trafficking networks by exploiting the country's poor and vulnerable.

The list provides the most concrete figure for the number of women involved in trafficking schemes since 2018.

But since it was put together in June, investigators' aggressive push against the nets has largely stopped. Officials with knowledge of the investigation say this is due to pressure from government officials who fear that they will hurt Pakistan's lucrative ties with Beijing.

The biggest case against traffickers has collapsed. In October, a Faisalabad court acquitted 31 Chinese citizens accused of trafficking. Several women initially interviewed by the police declined to testify because they were threatened or corrupted in silence, according to a court official and a police investigator who is familiar with the case. The two spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared punishment for speaking openly.

At the same time, the government tried to limit investigations, putting "enormous pressure" on officials from the Federal Research Agency who are pursuing trafficking networks, said Saleem Iqbal, a Christian activist who helped parents save several girls from China and prevented others from being sent there.

"Some (FIA officials) have even been transferred," Iqbal said in an interview. “When we talk to Pakistani rulers, they don't pay attention. "

When asked about the complaints, Pakistan's domestic and foreign ministries declined to comment.

Several senior officials familiar with the events said that investigations on the trafficking have slowed down, investigators are frustrated and Pakistani media have been driven to curb their news on the trafficking. Officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared reprisals.

"Nobody is doing anything to help these girls," said one of the officials. “The whole racket is continuing and growing. Because? Because they know they can get away. The authorities will not follow him, everyone is asked not to investigate. Traffic is increasing now. "

He said he was talking "because I have to live with myself. Where's our humanity?

The Chinese foreign ministry said it was not aware of the list.

"The two governments of China and Pakistan support the formation of happy families among their citizens on a voluntary basis in accordance with the laws and regulations, while at the same time having zero tolerance and resolutely fighting against anyone who engages in an illegal cross-border marriage behavior" the ministry said in a note sent Monday to the AP office in Beijing.

An AP investigation earlier this year revealed that the Pakistani Christian minority has become a new target for brokers who pay poor parents to marry their daughters, some teenagers, with Chinese husbands returning with them in homeland. Many brides are then isolated and mistreated or forced into prostitution in China, often contacting their home and asking to be brought back. The AP spoke to police and court officers and more than a dozen brides - some of whom returned to Pakistan, others trapped in China - as well as parents, neighbors, relatives and human rights workers.

Christians are targeted because they are one of the poorest communities in Pakistan with a Muslim majority. The traffic rings are made up of Chinese and Pakistani intermediaries and include Christian ministers, mostly from small evangelical churches, who receive kickbacks to urge their flock to sell their daughters. Investigators also discovered at least one Muslim religious who runs a marriage office from his madrassa, or religious school.

Investigators put together the list of 629 women from Pakistan's integrated border management system, which digitally records travel documents at the country's airports. The information includes the national identity numbers of the brides, the names of their Chinese husbands and the dates of their marriages.

All, except for a handful of marriages, took place in 2018 and until April 2019. One of the senior officials said that all 629 were believed to have been sold to the spouses by their families.

It is unknown how many other women and girls have been trafficked since the list was put together. But the official said "profitable trade continues". He spoke to the AP in an interview conducted hundreds of kilometers from his workplace to protect his identity. "Chinese and Pakistani brokers earn 4 to 10 million rupees ($ 25.000 and $ 65.000) from the groom, but only about 200.000 rupees ($ 1.500) are donated to the family," he said.

The official, with years of experience in the study of human trafficking in Pakistan, said that many of the women who spoke to investigators reported on forced fertility treatments, physical and sexual abuse and, in some cases, forced prostitution . Although no evidence has emerged, at least one investigation report contains allegations of organs collected from some of the women sent to China.

In September, the Pakistani investigative agency sent a report to Prime Minister Imran Khan entitled "Cases of Chinese False Marriages". The report, a copy of which was obtained from the PA, provided details of the cases registered against 52 Chinese citizens and 20 of their Pakistani associates in two cities in the eastern province of Punjab - Faisalabad, Lahore - as well as in the capital Islamabad. Chinese suspects included 31 later acquitted in court.

The report says police discovered two illegal marriage offices in Lahore, including one run by an Islamic center and madrassa - the first known report of poor Muslims also targeted by brokers. The Muslim cleric involved escaped from the police.

After the acquittals, there are other cases before the courts involving Pakistani arrests and at least 21 other Chinese suspects, according to the report sent to the prime minister in September. But the Chinese defendants were bailed in the cases and left the country, activists and a court official say.

Activists and human rights workers say that Pakistan has tried to keep brides trafficking quiet so as not to compromise Pakistan's ever closer economic relations with China.

China has been a loyal ally of Pakistan for decades, particularly in its difficult relations with India. China has provided military assistance to Islamabad, including pre-tested nuclear devices and nuclear-powered missiles.

Today, Pakistan is receiving massive aid under China's Belt and Road initiative, a global effort to replenish the silk road and connect China to all corners of Asia. As part of the $ 75 billion China-Pakistan economic corridor project, Beijing has promised Islamabad an extensive infrastructure development package, from building roads and power plants to agriculture.

The demand for foreign brides in China is rooted in that country's population, where there are approximately 34 million more men than women - a result of the one-child policy that ended in 2015 after 35 years, along with an overwhelming preference for boys who led to abortions of girls and female infanticide.

A report released this month by Human Rights Watch, which documents the trafficking of brides from Myanmar to China, says that the practice is spreading. He said Pakistan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea and Vietnam have "all become countries of origin for brutal business."

"One of the most striking things about this problem is the speed with which the list of countries that are known to be the countries of origin in the wedding trafficking sector is growing," Heather Barr, the author told AP of the HRW report.

Omar Warriach, director of Amnesty International's campaigns for South Asia, said that Pakistan "must not let its close relations with China become a reason to close its eyes on human rights abuses against its citizens" - either in abuse of women sold as brides or separation of Pakistani women of husbands of the Uyghur Muslim population of China sent to "reeducation camps" to remove them from Islam.

“It is terrifying that women are treated this way without the authorities of both countries showing any concern. And it's shocking that it's happening on this scale, "he said.