12 Vietnamese students duped into sex trade in Taipei

12名越南學生在台北被騙去從事性交易

Foreign students from science and technology university in Taoyuan conned into prostitution


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A dozen Vietnamese female students recently went missing from a university in northern Taiwan and authorities have discovered that they were trafficked into the sex industry, with only three rescued thus far.

A science and technology university in Taoyuan City recently reported that 12 of its Vietnamese students suddenly disappeared from their dormitory. After police conducted a search, they were found to be working as prostitutes in a rented suite on Linsen North Road in Taipei City's Zhongshan District and were able to rescue three of the students, while the whereabouts of the other nine are still unknown, reported TVBS.

In recent years, sex trafficking rings have been luring young women from Southeast Asia under the guise of "overseas studies" at Taiwanese universities, only to be sent to massage parlors and rental suites to engage in prostitution. Unscrupulous sex trafficking ring leaders also lure foreign female college students with claims that they should engage in prostitution to "earn money for tuition fees," "make money quickly," or "repay labor broker fees" before abducting them for exploitation.

In October, police received a tip that there were "call stations" being run in rented suites on Linsen North Road and Xinsheng North Road in Taipei. However, police initially had difficulty pinpointing the illegal venues as gangsters were monitoring their movements.

Police were eventually able to locate one of the locations and found three Vietnamese women at the scene. While undergoing police questioning, the women stated that they were students from a science and technology university in Taoyuan and that they had been "brainwashed" by a labor broker to engage in prostitution.

The task force stated that these students were vulnerable, and it was only because they had been duped with the promise of money for tuition or labor broker fees that they entered the sex trade.

The university took the unusual step of declining a request by police to provide a list of the foreign students who are missing.

In addition, a female student from a science and technology university in Tainan surnamed Tran disappeared after she had only taken classes for three days. Tran was later located in a Taipei apartment brothel by police.