FILE – A Pakistani cyclist passes in front of a wedding hall in Peshawar. VOA
The ARY News channel crew showed up unannounced at the facility along with local police and interviewed the foreigners, their local facilitators and the alleged Pakistani wives of the Chinese men. When asked, the station said, members of the alleged gang of Chinese human traffickers failed to produce local marriage certificates or documents showing the men had converted to Islam before marrying Pakistani Muslim women, which is mandatory under local laws.
The Pakistani victims explained that in return for their marrying Chinese men, their families would get about $300 per month and a Chinese visa for male family members. The local facilitators told the TV channel they would lure families into an agreement by saying their would-be Chinese son-in-law was seeking Pakistani citizenship so he could invest in the country as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.
"We remind both Chinese and Pakistani citizens to remain vigilant and not to be cheated. … We hope that the public does not believe in misleading information and works together to safeguard China-Pakistan friendship," the Chinese Embassy said in its statement.
It noted that both countries are firmly opposed to human trafficking and sales of human organs and rejected as "misleading and groundless" reports about sales of human organs in China.
Cooperation on crackdown
"China is cooperating with Pakistani law enforcement agencies to crack down on illegal matchmaking centers," the embassy said, adding that both Chinese and Pakistani youths were victims of the illegal agents.
