A Conversation About Human Trafficking

Good morning, and welcome to the first episode of the Vietnam Weekly Podcast, a new addition to this project. Twice a month, I will interview people from a broad spectrum of industry and society, either working in Vietnam, or with a focus on the country from overseas. If you are already a newsletter subscriber, you’ll receive new episodes in your inbox just like the weekly updates, and this will also be available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other podcast platforms soon. If you aren’t a subscriber, you can sign up below - I plan to eventually segment episodes into free and paid versions, the latter of which will fit into the US$5/month subscription that is already available. Please share any feedback you have on this first episode, and note that the audio quality will improve in the future as I’m currently hunting for a proper microphone. The podcast’s first guest is Michael Brosowski, founder and co-CEO of the Hanoi-based Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation. Michael and his team do incredible work in helping street kids and rescuing survivors of human trafficking - mostly young women who have been trafficked into China for either brothels or marriage. We talked about how Blue Dragon began conducting cross-border rescues, what drives trafficking into China, and how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted this underground industry in surprising ways. I’ve known Michael for some time now, and while these topics are undeniably disturbing, they are extremely important to understand, and he is a leading expert on the issue of trafficking in Vietnam. You can learn more about Blue Dragon’s work and support their efforts through their website. Michael Tatarski Get full access to Vietnam Weekly at thevietnamweekly.substack.com/subscribe