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**theveed** · July 27th, 2006 01:22 PM

May article for you pro-Pinoy artists
May article regarding a lady getting stuck sa gulo sa Yemen
Who's the most polite/impolite in the world (Mababa ranking ng Asia hehe)

and the most provocative...

Baby traffiking sa Cambodia... It's really, really sad to read the article, especially if you have a child.

"Cambodia's Stolen Babies
The demand to adopt infants by Westerners has created a shameful – and lucrative – market

Brian Eads July 2006

Makara Svay* gave birth to her third child, a girl, in an abandoned boxcar behind Phnom Penh railway station in May 2002. Deserted by the child's father, the pretty 23-year-old could not afford a midwife and relied on neighbours to help with the delivery. ''I nearly died giving birth,'' she remembers. Her newborn daughter, Bopha*, was small and malnourished.

The pair were still weak and sickly one month later when a Cambodian woman in her 30s climbed into the railway car and introduced herself as Madame Prum*. ''She said, ‘You are very poor. You don't have food for your child. Maybe she will die,' '' Svay says. ''She said, ‘I will adopt your child. I will care for her myself.' ''

When Prum promised Svay she could see her baby in the future, it seemed like an offer the unschooled peasant girl could not refuse. At 18 she had left the countryside to look for work in Phnom Penh. Abandoned by two successive partners there, she had been compelled to give up her two sons: one to his father, the other to an uncle far from the city. Now, homeless and practically penniless, she ''felt pity for my child and agreed to give her to the woman.''

To formalise the arrangement, Prum asked Svay to put her thumbprint on an official-looking document. Unable to read or write, she did as she was told. In return, Prum gave her $18, a 50 kilogram sack of rice..."

...It is estimated that Americans have adopted at least 800 Cambodian children, including some who were bought and sold. Some were probably treated badly in the process. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who visited orphanages and ''stash houses,'' where children were kept waiting for adoption, described conditions as horrendous, with naked, filthy babies, hammocks covered in faeces, rusty cribs, torn window screens and the stink of human excrement.

In spring 2005, posing as would-be adopters, my wife and I visited half-a-dozen well-known orphanages around Phnom Penh. We discovered that it is still shockingly easy to buy a baby. Who we were, where we came from and whether we had proper paperwork were not an issue. Mostly we were asked, ''Do you want a boy or a girl?''

***

I can't find the actual pic sa magazine, but imagine several 1.5-2yo babies sleeping... Not in a crib, not on a bed, not even on the floor... but they're placed in NETS hanging from the ceiling. The babies' chubby cheeks are pressed onto the screen nets as they sleep.

Note that the nets looks nothing like a hammock or something, imagine getting a sheet of blanket, fold it in half, and hang the ends on a hook in the ceiling, then dump the kid sa fold ng net. That's about it. The children were sleeping, hanging 8-12 inches off the ground.

**greenlyt** · July 27th, 2006 01:39 PM

its really is very sad, cant imagine those babies placed in nets tapos naka hang..... grabe!!! masyado silang mukhang pera, all they think of is how much they are going to earn

**theveed** · July 27th, 2006 01:51 PM

imagine the money involved, they "pay" the parents under 50 bucks and get paid 15-50K from a rich Westerner.

**nicolodeon** · July 27th, 2006 02:04 PM

True story. I've been to Cambodia lots of times and human trafficking there (especially baby trafficking) was quite high. I'm saying "was" because the Royal Government of Cambodia has currently implemented measures to limit/eliminate this kind of human trafficking.

**baiskee** · July 27th, 2006 02:08 PM

WTF! sick people!

**nicolodeon** · July 27th, 2006 02:12 PM

Hindi lang sa Cambodia ito. Halos lahat ng nasa bottom rung ng "3rd world country" category eh mayrong mga incidences nito, like some countries sa Africa.

**nicolodeon** · July 27th, 2006 02:14 PM

2002 pa pala nangyari eh. There are now laws in Cambodia that prohibit this kind of practice where the penalty for being caught is a lengthy jailtime. Question is, how effective is the law.

**theveed** · July 27th, 2006 02:24 PM

This article is CURRENT (this month).

Laws are uselss if not implemented.

High sa list ang Cambodia babies dahil sila pinakamadaling ilabas compared to vietnam, etc...

Laws that are implemented these days are mainly made in the US, UK etc to prevent IMPORTATION, but the exportation continues.

**empy** · July 27th, 2006 02:37 PM

i don't want to read the article. i have a feeling i won't be sleeping too well if i do.

**nicolodeon** · July 27th, 2006 02:40 PM

Boss Theveed, what I meant was yung incidient nung panganganak ni Makara Svay eh nangyari nung 2002 pa. In fairness to the Cambodian government, they have existing laws banning this illegal trand and they are trying their best to implement the law. Thing is, kulang sila ng expertise at resources to imlement it effectively - like with almost everything in Cambodia at the moment. Pero much has improved since I first set foot on that country five years ago.

Yes, compared to Vietnam and Laos, mas madaling mag-puslit ng babies from Cambodia.

Naging..."glamorous" ang pag-bili or pag-adopt ng babies from Cambodia in part dahil kay Angelina Jolie and her much publicized adoption of Cambodian children.