All money raised will be donated to the ongoing search for He Wen.
Our initial target is £10,000. This money will be spent on the following and in the following order:
1. Supporting He Zhimin (He Wen’s Father) on his on going search in the provinces, travelling from one brick factory to the next, printing and distributing MISSING PERSON leaflets
2. Supporting legal advocacy to encourage the local authorities to register the case and conduct serious investigations
3. Generating greater public awareness in Shaanxi province – press conferences, adverts in the local papers etc.
ABOUT HE WEN
He Wen was abducted from his home-town of Sanyuan, Shaanxi Province, China in June 2010. He Zhimin believes his son was approached at the local market by a woman who offered him a job and money and then abducted him. Mr He believes the woman was part of a trafficking gang that preys on the mentally impaired and that his son has been abducted and forced into a life of slavery.
The disappearance was reported to the police, but they have done very little and Mr. He’s been left to search for his son on his own. A few months ago, He Wen was spotted in a nearby town. Eyewitnesses told Mr. He that his son was being forced to work in local brick factories, which have a reputation for using forced labour supplied by trafficking gangs.
With hundreds of brick kilns across the county, Mr He has an almost impossible task. He has visited 40 kilns and come across many other cases of mentally impaired people who have been abducted into slavery including one man Liu Xiaoping, who worked with He Wen in one of the brick factories. As a result of his investigations, he's been threatened and at times violently attacked.
CHINA’S LOST SONS: the film about the search for He Wen (Broadcast on Channel 4’s Unreported World):
a) Watch a clip:
b) Watch the full film in 4oD
c) Watch the full film on YouTube (available worldwide):
d) Full details about the film: Unreported World
FACEBOOK: FINDING HE WEN - Keep up to date with progress of the search for He Wen, fundraising targets and events.
FUNDRAISING INFO:
Anti Slavery International are managing the fundraising from the UK.
In China, the search for He Wen is being conducted by the ‘Enable Disability Studies Institute’. The organisation provides assistance to relatives of victims who are trying to prosecute those accused of trafficking as well as seeking compensation. They also fight for the overall rights of people with physical and intellectual disabilities. Their main areas of focus are consulting, training, advocacy, and research. Further details on their FACEBOOK page.
