Missing Children

Posted on 22 July 2009.

"My heart is bleeding," says Deng Huidong. "I just want to find my son. Every time I see a child, it reminds me of my son and I wonder whether I will see him again." (Reuters)

Across China, hundreds, maybe thousands of children each year go missing, the victims of criminal gangs who then sell the children on to childless couples or to serve as beggars or child labourers. Deng Huidong's son was snatched by men in a white van as he played in an alleyway and has not been seen since. Chinese media report that a child can be sold for up to 40,000 yuan (US$5,850).

In late June, police were reported to have rescued 23 children in a nationwide crackdown on child trafficking. A further 18 suspects were caught in an eight-day campaign targeting trains pulling into central Wuhan city station from Yunnan province. "Women travelling with a small child and lots of milk powder but little in the way of children's clothing or other items" were scrutinised as possible traffickers (Reuters). But with the Ministry of Public Security investigating 2,566 potential trafficking cases in 2008, the number of children found remains comparatively small.

A growing number of websites feature missing child notices and parents are beginning to band together to campaign for police and government authorities to do more to stop this human trafficking. Earlier this year, the authorities responded by announcing that a national DNA database would be set up to help trace missing children.

"It all depends on the central government's actions. You cannot rely on the local government," says Zheng Chunzhong, whose son was kidnapped in 2003. "Even if there is only one percent hope, we will still spend 100 percent of our efforts to find our children." (Reuters)

Pray for parents whose children have disappeared. Pray that they might find comfort in the midst of their grief and the strength to go on despite the tragedy they have experienced.

Pray that many more missing children would be found and returned safely to their parents.

Pray for police and government authorities to make cracking down on this trade in human beings a high priority. Pray for real breakthroughs in stopping the criminal gangs responsible.