Urumqi, Xinjiang, China, China
The kidnappers, a 22-member gang, confessed that they promised jobs to children in impoverished regions in Xinjiang and took them to Guangzhou. Instead, they trained the children how to steal and forced them to hand in 2,000 yuan (292 U.S. dollars) to 5,000 yuan a day. Those who couldn't bring in that much faced abuse, such as cigarette burns or whippings.
Location
China · Urumqi, Xinjiang, China · 2009 (location generalized to protect survivors)
Response & intervention
Police investigated, freed the children, set up ID files for each child, and tried to contact their parents. They escorted the children back to Xinjiang.
20 children (17 boys and three girls, aged eight to 16) who had been abducted and forced into pickpocket gangs in southern China, where some had been held as long as four years, were freed after police broke up the child-abduction gang in Guangzhou.
Some limited services were provided, such as clothing, meals and transportation back to their home areas. Some parents came to the station, while many children had to stay in a local care facility until police located their families.
Chinese Police
Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). We don't have a verifiable source on file yet — use “Report a problem” below to add one.