Help needed for two Arakanese women trafficked, sold as brides in China

By Admin 07 Aug 2025

DMG Newsroom

7 August 2025, Ramree

Two Arakanese women who were trafficked to China and sold as brides are in need of assistance to extricate them from their present predicaments, according to advocates.

Ma Khin Mar Shwe, 28, from Ponnyawady Village in Ramree Township, and Ma Hnin Sandar Soe, 20, from Ngapathone Village in Myebon Township, were trafficked to China and sold as brides.

Ma Khin Mar Shwe told DMG that she traveled to China in February 2025 to work after contacting a female human trafficker from Kyaukphyu. She was sold as a bride to a Chinese man by another female human smuggler at the border.

“The human trafficker said that by the end of this month, she would take me out of my current Chinese husband’s house and send me to another man. I don’t know how to go anywhere here [in China]. She also said that if I don’t go where she takes me, she will call the police and I will be arrested,” she said.

According to Ma Khin Mar Shwe, she was sold to a Chinese man as a bride, and the female human trafficker promised to transfer the money, amounting to more than K5 million, to her family. However, the female human trafficker did not transfer the money to Ma Khin Mar Shwe’s family.

Ma Khin Mar Shwe said that the female human trafficker was planning to sell her as a wife to another Chinese man, and that she was also being repeatedly harassed and threatened.

The tow female human traffickers are from Sarpyinkwin Ward and Taungyin Ward in Kyaukphyu, with one now living in Kyaukphyu and one in Yangon.

Similarly, Ma Hnin Sandar Soe, 20, from Ngapathone Village in Myebon Township, arrived in China in February to work, with the help of a human smuggler, and is now being sold as a bride.

Ma Hnin Sandar Soe is currently banned from leaving her husband’s home, and using his phone or other means of communication.

Ma Hnin Sandar Soe’s dowry of K6.5 million was allegedly taken from the Chinese man by the female human trafficker and not handed over to her family.

In Myanmar, where conflict and job shortages are driving more and more women to seek work abroad, many of them are reportedly being sold as wives in China.

Arakanese women are also subjected to various hardships, including being cheated, sold, exploited, and forced to leave Arakan State and travel to China to work, due to the enticements and incentives of human traffickers.

“I would like to warn women not to be easily fooled by people who promise to provide them with jobs. I would also like to urge organisations that can help to not turn a blind eye to women who are experiencing these incidents,” an Arakanese man working in China told DMG.

Some women sold as wives in China are reportedly locked up in their homes, beaten, and denied contact with outsiders, as well as suffering a host of other serious human rights violations.

Most of the women are lured by human traffickers, but there are also those who work voluntarily due to family financial difficulties.

A male gender activist said that Chinese and Myanmar authorities need to take action to prevent women being trafficked into marriage in China, as they are at high risk of various human rights violations and have difficulty obtaining legal protections.

“China, which is most closely related to the source of this problem, has a special responsibility to work hard, and I believe that marriage trafficking can only be prevented if international humanitarian organisations and all relevant governments can implement prevention, awareness-raising, and support programmes,” the activist added.

The ongoing fighting in Arakan State has led to a food crisis amid rising commodity prices, and with a shortage of local employment opportunities, many locals including young women are leaving for foreign countries to work in any way they can.