Hu Xiaojiao was watching an undercover report about forced labor at a brick kiln in the midst of a slavery scandal in China two years ago when she saw her missing adult son in the video.
“I rushed to the factory, but my son was not there any more. I’m sure they moved him to another place. Since then, I have had no news,” the small but tough-looking factory worker said, her voice rising in anger.
Hu is one of a group of parents living in or near Zhengzhou, capital of central Henan province, who travel across China in a desperate search for their children, whom they believe were abducted and sold as slaves to factories.
Sitting in a shabby room in Zhengzhou rented by another group member, Hu — whose son disappeared in 2005 when he was 24 — said she had visited countless brick kilns with the group under the guise of job-hunting.
They began their quest in 2007 when a shocking slavery scandal erupted in China, revealing that laborers had been forced to work in appalling conditions in thousands of brick yards and mines across the nation. Many of them were abducted in Henan and neighboring Shanxi province, and then sold to factories and mines there with the apparent collusion of officials and police, state media said at the time.
Authorities said that about 600 enslaved workers were rescued after a huge government campaign, and more have since been found, but many are still believed to be trapped in illegal enterprises.
The group — who have taken matters into their own hands after countless pleas to the police went unanswered — last made a trip in July this year. Their travels have taken them to brick kilns in northern, central and eastern China.
“In some factories, we saw people working — their hair was really long, they wore ragged clothes, they had no shoes. Some had wounds on their bodies,” said Miao Lisong, whose son disappeared five years ago when he was 25.
“We tried to ask them where they were from, but we could see from their expressions they didn’t dare respond. I hear they beat them if they talk,” he said, staring sadly at a small photo of his son.
Some of the factories refuse the parents entry, but on one trip to Shanxi, Miao said people in three kilns said they had seen his son. But he was still unable to find him.
Joining the parents on their numerous trips is Li Yuqin, a soft-spoken 37-year-old recycler whose son went missing nearly three years ago at the age of 16, when he was out with friends.
“Often in the evenings I think of my child. Having seen on television [in 2007] how those kids suffered, how dirty they were, it’s hard to take,” she said, tears rolling down her cheeks.
Li recounted the story of one mother in the group who was reunited with her teenage son in 2007, two years after he was abducted in the streets of Zhengzhou.
According to the mother’s written account, Hao Jiyong labored in a brick kiln in Henan with more than 200 others, and wore clothes with the number 203 sewed on. She says he saw six people beaten to death in his two years there.
Hao escaped from the factory and managed to run to a hotel, where the owner took him in for a month and gave him money to return to Zhengzhou, the mother said.
“He speaks very little now,” said Miao, who saw him on his return.
Aside from not knowing where or how their children are, some parents have also had to contend with unscrupulous people trying to profit from their grief.
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