China struggles to identify rescued kidnap victims

[October 28, 2009]  BEIJING (AP) -- Police in China have created a Web site with photos of 60 rescued kidnap victims, mostly boys and many of them infants, in a bid to track down their families.

The Ministry of Public Security's "Babies Looking for Home" Web site is part of a nationwide crackdown on widespread trafficking of women and children. State media have reported hundreds of rescues and arrests since the campaign began in April, but the new site shows that at least 60 children have yet to be reunited with their families.

The site includes short physical descriptions of each child, the date they were rescued and a contact number for the police station or welfare official in charge of their case. The youngest appear to be just a few months old and 39 of them are boys.

The ministry said in a statement announcing the site Tuesday that 2,008 children were rescued between April 9 and Oct. 12 of this year.

Some of the older children profiled were taken years ago. It was not clear from the site when exactly they were found by authorities.

China's traditional preference for male heirs has driven a thriving market in baby boys, who fetch a considerably higher price than girls. Girls and women are also abducted and often used as laborers or as brides for unwed sons.

Some families sell their female babies in order to try for a boy, since the country's one-child policy limits most families to having one child.

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On the Net:

http://www.mps.gov.cn/n16/n983040/
n1928424/n2023952/index_1.html

[Associated Press]

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