An investigation found Pakistani Christian women being trafficked to China as brides. Then officials shut it down.

By Miriam Berger

The evidence was overwhelming.

Investigators had a list, exclusively viewed by the Associated Press, of 629 girls and women from across Pakistan who since 2018 had been allegedly trafficked to China and forced to marry Chinese men. Once there, many victims were isolated and physically and sexually abused. Others, investigators found, were forced into prostitution.

The exploitation was lucrative for the Chinese and Pakistanis involved. Less so for the impoverished families from Pakistan’s marginalized Christian community that the trafficking rings reportedly targeted, assuming they would be vulnerable and powerless to stop it.

“The Chinese and Pakistani brokers make between 4 million and 10 million rupees ($25,000 and $65,000) from the groom, but only about 200,000 rupees ($1,500), is given to the family,” one Pakistani investigator, speaking on the condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal, told the AP.

In June, Pakistani investigators started to prepare the case, which the AP has extensively reported on. There was real momentum to stop the alleged trafficking to China, where there’s a big demand for brides from abroad, as males far outnumber females because of the previous one-child policy and prevalence of female infanticide.

Then came the pressure from above: Shut it down.

Cash-strapped Pakistan relies on China for aid, trade and military assistance. In 2015, China launched the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $75 billion project to fund the construction of roads, power plants and other infrastructure and development initiatives. It’s part of China’s broader vision of rejuvenating the Silk Road and China’s ties to the rest of Asia through what it calls the Belt and Road initiative

The assistance, like any aid, comes with conditions both explicit and implied. In October, according to the AP’s investigation, that meant that a court in Faisalabad acquitted 31 Chinese citizens charged with human trafficking. What was the largest case against the alleged trafficking ring had swiftly fallen apart: Pakistani media curbed its coverage, while several women originally set to testify suddenly refused “because they were either threatened or bribed into silence, according to a court official and a police investigator familiar with the case,” the AP reported.

Why? Pakistani officials were afraid that pursuing the case would anger China and threaten its lucrative investments and economic cooperation, officials and activists interviewed by the AP found.

“No one is doing anything to help these girls,” one senior official, speaking on the condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal, told the AP. “The whole racket is continuing, and it is growing. Why? Because they know they can get away with it. The authorities won’t follow through, everyone is being pressured to not investigate. Trafficking is increasing now.”

He said he had decided to come forward “because I have to live with myself. Where is our humanity?”

Saleem Iqbal, a Christian activist involved with helping the victims and families, said that some officials from Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency had been “transferred” and put under “immense pressure” by the government to halt their work on the case.

“When we talk to Pakistani rulers, they don’t pay any attention,” he told the AP.

Both Pakistani and Chinese officials have denied the allegations.