HumanTrafficking.org | China International Organization: ILO-IPEC Mekong Sub-regional Project, Yunnan Province

A web resource for combating human trafficking

China

ILO-IPEC Mekong Sub-regional Project, Yunnan Province

Address

ILO Mekong Project to Combat Trafficking in Children and Women (Yunnan, China)
c/o Yunnan Provincial Women's Federation (YWF) Building
27 # Xibalu Road, Milesi District
Kunming, China 650032

Contact Information

If calling from China:

Tel: 871 419 5240
Fax: 871 419 5108

If calling from overseas:

Tel: +86 871 419 5240
Fax: +86 871 419 5108

Website

http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/child/trafficking/wherewework-china.htm

Email

iloctpo@public.km.yn.cn

Activities

The Chinese province of Yunnan, in cooperation with the International Labor Organization (ILO), has launched a new phase of a five-year project to combat the trafficking of children and women in the Mekong Sub-Region of Asia in July 2003.

In the Yunnan Province, most trafficking of children and women takes place internally. That is to say most movement occurs within Yunnan and China. Many of the victims are young women who are 'sold' as brides to men in more isolated rural areas. Trafficking for marriage exists because many of these men in rural areas cannot afford the dowry required of a formal marriage. The trafficker 'provides' a bride for a much lower price.

There is, however, cross-border movement as well, with Thailand as the primary destination, via Lao PDR and Burma. Because girls traditionally receive less education than boys, girls and young women are disproportionately vulnerable to exploitation in the 'entertainment' industry.

Yunnan Province, as a sending and receiving region of trafficking in children and women, is one of the worst affected areas in China. Jiangcheng County in Simao Prefecture and Menghai County in Xishuangbanna Prefecture have the highest incidence of internal and cross-border trafficking in Yunnan (and therefore have been identified as focal areas for the implementation of the TICW Phase II).

The first stage of the project started in June 2000 and covered only two counties of Yunnan. The new projects comprising the second stage now cover eight counties of Yunnan. In the second stage are measures to ensure that migrant workers are not cheated and exploited, which will tap the joint efforts of migrant workers and their employers.

The ILO has raised some US$10 million to finance the projects. Governments of various levels in Yunnan Province likewise provide financial as well as technical support to the project.¹

In 2005, a survey conducted by the Yunnan Provincial Statistics Bureau was published by the ILO-TICW project. ’Analysis Report of Baseline Data Survey for Yunnan Province' (available in Chinese and English) focused on data gathered in eight new counties/districts.

In the migrant sending areas, this baseline survey identified the situation of vulnerable children and women and focused on new target sites for future project interventions. In receiving areas, the purpose was to identify the current situation of migrant workers, their attitudes toward migration and to select sectors at high risk of trafficking for project interventions.

The publication highlighted the difficulties and bewildering array of rules and procedures faced by internal labour migrants while trying to find work through legal channels while avoiding human traffickers.

A separate video-documentary was also underway in 2006 to illustrate – and document – the real-life situation of migrant women leaving their villages in search of work in the main migrant receiving areas of the capital, Kunming, the problems they encountered and lessons learned along the way.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) published the 'Situation of Trafficking in Children and Women: A Rapid Assessment' in August 2002.

¹ Xinhua News Agency. "ILO, China Join to Combat Trafficking in Children and Women." July 12, 2003 .