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Chinese 'Dream' of Escape to West Turning to
Nightmare
Asia: As police crack down on human smuggling, price of ticket out is
rising and risks are growing.
By CHING-CHING NI, Times Staff
Writer
FUZHOU,
China--Leaving or being left behind is a way of life here in the
capital of China's human smuggling trade. But for Chinese seeking escape
to the West, the price--and the risks--are growing.
An estimated 100,000 Chinese are
smuggled to the West each year. The traffic intensified during the last
decade, driving up the price of passage as much as fourfold. Some coastal
towns here in Fujian province annually lose one out of 10 residents.
The outflow has the Chinese government
cracking the whip. About 9,000 stowaways and more than 800 "snakeheads,"
as the smugglers of the human cargo are called, were detained nationwide
last year, a significant jump over past years, the official China Daily
reported this month.
Here in this
provincial capital alone, police foiled 94 attempts to smuggle a total of
1,477 people last year, according to the Xiamen Daily. From January to
September, foreign countries repatriated 29 groups of illegal immigrants,
totaling 3,060 people. The Xiamen Daily report also indicated that the
numbers were climbing, though past figures were not given.
Most of the stowaways were found aboard
ships.
In the small towns along the
craggy coastline, Cultural Revolution-style slogans shout from the walls:
"Urgently chase!" and "Forcefully smash human smuggling evil wind!"
Would-Be Migrants Face Fines,
Prison
The police pressure has made
it more difficult to leave China illegally, residents here say.
A Fuzhou driver had saved up for the
journey eight years ago but got cold feet. "It was much easier then," he
said. "Some people went by plane with snakeheads arranging everything like
a travel agent. The success rate was maybe 80%. Now, if 100 people try,
maybe two make it."
Those caught trying
to leave face fines and possible prison terms, as do the snakeheads, who
reportedly charge tens of thousands of dollars per person. Since last
fall, about 450 people who had tried to sneak out of China received prison
sentences, most for less than two years, the Fujian Economic News
reported.
"Smuggling is bad for our
image," said Lin Yongjian, an economist at the Fujian provincial
government's Development and Research Institute. "We need to develop the
local economy. But our income level cannot reach the U.S. level
overnight."
So the exodus continues. No
amount of repatriations and horror stories seems to stem the tide--not
even the deaths last month of three local men, found entombed with 15
alive but emaciated stowaways in the bottom of a container ship that had
made port in Seattle.
"My hometown is
almost empty," said a home-improvement specialist from Jinfeng, about an
hour's drive north of here, a town that is notorious for producing human
cargo. The specialist made a small fortune sprucing up local houses owned
by Chinese who had made their money overseas and returned. Two of his
relatives were smuggled abroad. One was caught twice before finally making
it.
"It's very simple," said a
shopkeeper in nearby Tantou, another hot spot for stowaways. His son left
for the United States at age 17. "No matter what kind of work, you
[Americans] can make more in one month than we could in a year."
Fujians Constitute Bulk of
Expatriates
It's no secret that the
coastal province has a long history of emigration. Millions of overseas
Chinese, legal immigrants or otherwise, trace their roots here. Those of
Fujianese descent make up the bulk of Chinese expatriates and are second
only to immigrants from Guangdong province.
Much of Fujian province's economy is
driven by money they invest here. Local officials say that as much as 80%
of the $31.5 billion in foreign investment to the province last year came
from overseas Chinese. This prompts some locals to speculate that the
government, until recently, turned a blind eye on the human exodus.
"Smugglers reduce China's overpopulation
and bring back money for the economy," said the home-improvement
specialist. "That solves two major problems for the government."
On the other hand, locals say Americans
are too eager to believe claims of political persecution. Snakeheads know
that, and they often tell families of would-be emigrants to forge letters
saying their relatives had participated in the pro-democracy movement that
led to the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and would face capital
punishment if they returned to China.
In
fact, the motivations of the would-be emigrants are mostly economic.
It's hard to miss the contrast between
the fates of those who have gone and those who remained. Among vegetable
fields and on the sides of roads, new homes sprout like bamboo shoots
after the spring rain.
"Look at these
private homes--they are built by 'American citizens' who come back to show
off," said a driver on the newly paved highway connecting the urban center
and the countryside. "Sometimes they have only three people living in a
three- or four-story mansion.
"Sometimes
they build the home, treat the neighbors to a big feast and take off.
Leave the house standing," the driver said. "Even then their house has to
stand bigger and taller than their neighbor's."
Off the beaten path, rundown shanties
with roofs held down by bricks and old tires stand beside lavishly
remodeled buildings that are distinguished by white-tiled walls,
blue-tinted windows and orange roofs.
A
woman and her children inhabit one of these shiny buildings, living on
money sent home by her husband in the United States. Neighbors say so many
women are left alone that some towns in the area are dubbed "widow
villages."
"If I had the money, I would
definitely go," said one 25-year-old woman working a manual silk screen in
a print shop. "A lot more women are leaving. It's just a few years of hard
work--it's worth it."
Most people choose
to ignore evidence of the difficult passage, but they hear about it.
A middle-age Fuzhou resident with
relatives who had reached the U.S. by way of Argentina recalled the saga
of a friend who almost made it last year.
The passengers saw the shoreline
somewhere in the U.S. but were afraid to land, he said. A dozen people
shared six bottles of mineral water for a week. They were not allowed to
swallow the water: They would rinse their mouth and then spit it back in
the container. When the water ran out and the weak grew faint, they made a
break for the shore, only to be captured by the local police and sent back
home.
Hoping to Live the American
Dream
Residents here say most of
those who tempt fate are poorly educated farmers from remote areas.
"Going abroad is a dream," said a young
woman from Tantou who runs a bookstall in town. "Young people here can't
reach their full potential."
Recently, a
teenager came in to chat. He has no interest in books. Like many of his
friends in town, he dropped out after middle school. Now he is an
apprentice to a short-order cook. His relatives send him money from
Taiwan, about 125 miles southeast of here across the Taiwan Strait.
Down the street, a 50-year-old
grandmother is still waiting for the dollars to trickle in. Her son left
for the U.S. six years ago. His wife followed a few years later and gave
birth to a boy there. A year later the baby was sent to Fujian province to
live with his grandmother so the parents could work full time as waiters.
"My son worked as a butcher here,
killing pigs, selling meat," said the grandmother. "He didn't like it. Now
he works in an American restaurant. But he doesn't make enough money yet
to send home."
Two of her three sons
left home for the U.S. Their pictures hang in a big frame above two
laminated maps of the world and of China. She's afraid to give details,
saying only that someone had arranged fake marriages, which eventually got
them to Washington.
"Of course I miss
them, but what future do they have here?" said the grandmother, who runs a
tailor shop in the front of her home. Business is slow, and the three
manual sewing machines are almost always idle. What keeps her going is her
grandchild.
"He is an American citizen,"
she said. "His life has to be better than all of us."
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