Claims emerge of women allegedly taken from Ha’asini to China and forced into marriages with Chinese nationals

A Tongan woman has made alarming allegations of a suspected human trafficking operation involving young women from Tonga allegedly being taken to China and forced into marriages with Chinese nationals for the purpose of bearing children.

During a livestream on Facebook, a woman identified as Aloi Katoa of Ha’asini claimed her niece, known as Huni, contacted her from China seeking urgent help after allegedly becoming trapped in what she described as extremely poor living conditions.

According to Aloi Katoa, her niece told her she and two other young women were recruited from the village of Ha’asini by a woman known as Ma’ata Aso and later taken to China.

Aloi alleged the women were promised payment and transported overseas under arrangements involving Ma’ata and a Chinese national believed to have links to Tonga.

She further claimed that each of the three women was allegedly worth $100,000, with payments reportedly made to individuals involved in arranging the women’s travel to China.

According to Aloi, her niece told her the women were taken to China for the purpose of marrying Chinese nationals and bearing children.

It remains unclear what was expected to happen to the women after childbirth.

In the livestream, Aloi described the living conditions her niece allegedly endured in China as desperate.

“She told me they had nothing to eat,” Aloi claimed during the livestream.

According to Aloi, the women were living in severe poverty, with little food available and unsafe drinking conditions, forcing them to boil water in order to drink.

Concerned for her niece’s safety, Aloi said she arranged emergency accommodation at a hotel in China to help her niece and the two other women escape from where they were staying.

She said the three women were able to flee and reach safety.

Before escaping, Aloi claimed her niece managed to contact another Tongan woman working at a local hospital in China.