Hai’s story

From his home in the mountains, he never imagined he could be trafficked and sold.

Hai’s story

From his home in the mountains, he never imagined he could be trafficked and sold.
Hai grew up in a Khmu community in northwest Vietnam. He spoke little Vietnamese and knew almost nothing about the world outside his tiny village, so when some kind strangers came by offering training and education in the big city, he had no concept of what that meant.
Thinking he would be going somewhere nearby, Hai’s family agreed to let him go. Aged 13, he had already dropped out of school and there were no prospects for a better life if he stayed at home. The offer of help from these rich outsiders seemed like a great opportunity.
Hai was taken 1,200km away from home, to the industrial suburbs of Ho Chi Minh City, and sold to a garment factory. Instead of training, he was put to work 16 hours per day, with no days off and no way to contact his family.

He and the other children enslaved there worked until they collapsed, exhausted, onto the factory floor, where they slept.

It was more than 6 months before Hai’s family was able to report that their son was missing. They had never dealt with police before and didn’t know what to do.

Blue Dragon worked with the police to locate the factory to which he had been sold, and we were there when police raided it and set Hai free.

Hai is back in his home province now, enrolled in a school and spending the week at a boarding house with other children his age. He goes home on weekends and loves to share what he learns with his family.

Read other stories

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Meet the kids - Thao's Story - Thao, a trafficked victim, finds support at Blue Dragon

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With her harrowing ordeal behind her, Thao is building a future free from fear.

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