There have been numerous reports that in China mentally disabled people have been kidnapped and forced to be slaves for brick factories.
In a recent LA Times article called “China’s disabled exploited as slaves,” Barbara Demick tells the story of two Chinese families searching for their lost sons. Liu Xiaoping was a slave for ten months in brick factories across China’s countryside, but was recently found with burned hands and gashes all over his body.
He Wen, who has been dealing with mental health problems since his teen years, was never found as his family has been looking for him for over half a year. One of the reasons why Wen’s family can’t find him is the lack of help they get from the police.
It’s sad that authorities just assume Wen ran away because he’s mentality disabled. This is a growing problem in China and the police needs to start treating these cases more serious.
Also, I was disturbed to read that many families don’t care when their disabled relative is kidnapped because it will be less of a burden.
I applaud Xiaoping and Wen’s families for not giving up hope and looking for their love ones even without the help of others. Hopefully, the Chinese police wakes up and help search for Wen and bring him back home.
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/feb/26/world/la-fg-china-brick-factory-20110226
