by Albert Yu, Communications Manager, World Vision Lao PDR 

“Don’t believe recruiters! Don’t believe recruiters!,” chanted 13-year-old Mahaxay with her classmates as they kicked-off the first-ever Child Advocacy Network (CAN) Awareness Event in the village of Naphaekngai in Savannakhet Province.

Holding signs saying “Stop Trafficking” and “We should all study,” these children were participating in a movement village leaders hope will make their community safer for the youth.

The goal of the CAN event, attended by nearly 150 students, was to teach the children the dangers of unsafe migration and the risks of being trafficked by recruiters.

Through song, dance, drama, short lectures, and games, CAN organisers shared important lessons on how to identify traffickers who may come through the village and how to respond to a recruiter if they are approached. Their presentations also included lessons on children’s rights, such as living in a safe and protective environment and participating in decisions affecting them.

Naphaekngai Village, with a population of nearly 2,000, suffers from a lack of stable livelihood and income generating opportunities. With not much for young people to do to earn a living, some choose to move away.

“Migration is a big challenge for our village,” says Mrs. Keo, 58, mother of three children and grandmother of five. “It’s very difficult to earn money here, so many of our young people choose to move away.”

“The people who stay in the village tend their rice fields, small family gardens, or cut timber to sell wood,” explains Mr. Aou, 48, the Village Chief of Naphaekngai Village.

“Other than those activities, there really is nothing else,” Mr. Aou added, saying that currently about 60 people are reported to have migrated from the village, some of whom have yet to be heard from.

While Mr. Aou does have thoughts on how his village can generate income in the future such as digging and operating fish ponds, it will be difficult to keep young people in the village until those ideas become reality.

For those who choose to migrate, especially girls, a host of dangers and risks await them outside the village. Recruiters who can be very persuasive in promising high incomes and a better life are often lying. They will not only pay far less than what was promised, but may sell their clients into exploitative situations, such as Thailand’s commercial sex industry or abusive domestic labour and hazardous factories.

“The girls are especially at risk because they are generally less educated, so when recruiters come, they are more easily convinced,” says Mr. Detdavone Ketavong, Manager of World Vision’s Mekong Delta Regional Trafficking Strategy (MDRTS) in Lao PDR. “It’s difficult for them to tell between good and bad people.”

Tragically, if young people follow recruiters, they may never be able to return home.

“Many people who migrate are never heard from again,” says Mrs. Keo, claiming that she knows of ten people from her village who have migrated and lost contact with their families, all of them female.

“In the past, traffickers come to our village inviting teenagers to earn good money, and these teenagers just did not understand migration or know anything about trafficking,” she says. 

Since World Vision started working against trafficking in Savannakhet province, knowledge is improving and attitudes changing.

“Today, I learned that traffickers will offer a lot of money, but they will cheat people and transfer them to another place than was promised,” says Mahaxay who is in her second year of lower secondary school (seventh grade). 

Asked what she would do if a recruiter approached her, “I won’t go,” was Mahaxay’s firm reply.

“I want everyone to know about migration and don’t want people to move away from the village,” she said.  

The Child Advocacy Network is parrt of a World Vision's regional anti-trafficking strategy for the Mekong Delta. In Lao PDR, World Vision consults with vulnerable communities on how to address the risks of trafficking and support activities that will lead to safer communities.  Today, the Mekong Delta Regional Trafficking Strategy is working in 41 villages in Savannakhet Province.

More about World Vision's anti-trafficking work in the Mekong region