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V. Human Rights Abuses of Street Children

I was walking, not paying attention, on Hang Bac Street, near the lake. Someone grabbed me and put me in a truck. I didn’t know anything. I thought I would be sent home but realized later that I was being sent to a camp.
—Minh, a 15-year-old boy working as a shoe shiner, 2004

Although less visible in Hanoi’s tourist areas than in the past, street children continue to be vulnerable to routine sweeps by police, mistreatment, and subsequent arbitrary detention. Their low status in Vietnamese society and their lack of visibility means that when they are picked up and detained, very few people know where they have been sent, nor is there oversight regarding their treatment. They are largely held incommunicado: most have no contact with family, lawyers, or others who could help them. This opens the door to even more abuse.

Vietnam is a party to both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)⁸⁷ and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Both human rights treaties set out rights to which children are guaranteed under international law and which Vietnam has agreed to respect, protect, and fulfill in practice. ⁸⁸ The experience of street children who are arrested and placed in detention at facilities like Dong Dau indicates that street children are not in practice enjoying the protection or exercise of many of these rights.

Round-up campaigns

Police in Hanoi routinely conduct round-up campaigns to clear public areas of homeless people and street children. Of the street children who have been picked up by police in Hanoi, a 2003 survey found that more than half said they were rounded up as part of mass sweeps and arbitrary round-ups, rather than on suspicion of committing specific crimes.⁸⁹

Most of the children are picked up for activities that are not specifically defined as crimes: shoe shining, begging, and street vending. Some are detained for lack of identification or residence permits (ho khau).⁹⁰

“Street cleaning” campaigns result in the rounding up and detention of large numbers of children living on the streets, are by their nature arbitrary and violate several of Vietnam’s international legal obligations. Arbitrary arrests and detention are contrary to both the ICCPR⁹¹ and the CRC.⁹² Any deprivation of a child’s liberty must be carried out in accordance with law, be for a legitimate purpose, be for as short a period as possible, and take place only as a last resort.

The rounding up of children living on the streets that have not or are not reasonably suspected of having committed any crime is a policy of dubious legitimacy. Where this policy is not implemented for the purpose of reuniting children with family or guardians, or of placing them in appropriate and adequate alternate care where they can access education and health services, its legality comes under further question.

Governments may and should pursue legitimate policies that seek to prevent children from living on the street and protect them from harm and exploitation whilst on the street. Indeed, the CRC requires the state to provide special protection and assistance to children who are temporarily or permanently deprived of their family environment.⁹³ Nevertheless, our research suggests that the round ups of children in Hanoi often are primarily carried out to make them less visible—particularly to visitors to Vietnam—rather than to further their best interests. The combination of the questionable authority on which police detain these children, the purposes for which they are detained, and the absence of any judicial process or oversight for their detention renders the detention of these children following massive sweeps arbitrary and unlawful under international law.

Most children interviewed by Human Rights Watch said they were picked up from public places—parks, restaurants, tea houses, and streets—by between two and four regular police officers or members of Canh Sat 113 (an emergency mobile police force), sometimes together with brown- or green-uniformed government security guards (bao ve),who patrol the lake areas and other tourist spots.⁹⁴

In some cases, many children are rounded up at the same time and put into police vans, which are often stationed across the street from Hoan Kiem Lake.

A typical arrest of a street child might involve being suddenly grabbed by police or security guards on motorbikes, being driven to the local ward police station for processing, and then driven in a police van to a Social Protection Center. One boy described his arrest during a police sweep a year earlier, when he was 18:

I was shining shoes alone on Phu Doan street. The police caught me. Two motorbikes with four policemen stopped. One man grabbed me from behind and put me on his motorbike. I was in the middle; he was at the back.

They took me to the police station. I ran but didn’t get very far. Two motorbikes chased me and brought me back to the station. I was slapped once on the face.

I was put into a van with 12 other people—mostly newspaper vendors and shoe shiners.

I thought it would be alright if I paid a fine. But no, I was sent to Dong Dau.⁹⁵

Police custody

After arrest, the children are typically brought to a nearby police station where their personal details are recorded, their possessions confiscated, and they are held for up to eight hours, until enough people have been gathered to fill a police van to transport them to Dong Dau.

Denial of due process

The children interviewed by Human Rights Watch say they are rarely told why they are being detained, rarely charged with any offence, rarely provided with someone to represent their interests (not to mention access to legal counsel), and rarely provided with an opportunity to challenge their detention. Social workers interviewed by Human Rights Watch confirmed that this is often the case.⁹⁶

While it would appear that most street children are detained in accordance with administrative laws, rather than the criminal law, this does not deprive them of their basic rights under international law. These include the right to be informed of their reasons for detention, access to legal representation, permission to notify their family of their detention, and the right to challenge their detention.⁹⁷

The children interviewed by Human Rights Watch said that police did not allow them to contact their families or friends while in police custody, nor did the police inform their parents or guardians that the child had been arrested and was being sent to Dong Dau. A social worker who works with street children in Hanoi confirmed that this is a regular pattern, and described one particular case:

Lan, a nine-year-old girl, was selling chewing gum when plainclothes police walked up from behind and carried her away. The police never told her what she did wrong. Her family searched frantically for her before inquiring at the police station. They were told she was sent to Dong Dau after being held for one hour at the station. With the assistance of a lawyer, they embarked on a bureaucratic campaign to free the child. After two weeks in Dong Dau, she was sent to Ba Vi for a further six months before her family finally secured her release.⁹⁸

Vietnam’s 2003 Penal Procedure Code states that authorities must immediately notify children’s families or legal representatives after children are arrested or detained.⁹⁹ The evidence that street children are not afforded these basic rights indicates that Vietnamese national laws as well as its international legal obligations are being violated.

Abuses in police custody

Many of the street children interviewed by Human Rights Watch reported that they were physically abused by police during their arrest and detention at police stations. Trang described being beaten at the police station:

I was struggling to get free. [The policeman] held me very tightly, and when we entered the station he beat me. He punched me in my head three or four times with his fist and kicked me in the legs.¹⁰⁰

Other children recounted abuse such as being struck on the head with wooden sticks; being tied with electrical wire and hit; being slapped; being struck with electric batons; and having their arms twisted.¹⁰¹

Private or government security guards in markets and parks who sometimes help round up children for the police are also guilty of ill-treating street children. A 14-year-old boy who collects plastic bags in Dong Xuan market described how he was beaten by a guard in the market before being sent in a police van to Dong Dau.

I was beaten in the market where I work. The head guard arrested me. My friend scolded him for doing that. The guard got mad and beat my bum with a wooden stick. Many of my friends got arrested too.¹⁰²

Such treatment of minors and excessive use of force is contrary to international standards on child protection, and Vietnam’s international human rights obligations in general which prohibit corporal punishment of children in custody and forbid use of force by law enforcement officers beyond that which is strictly necessary in the circumstances (see further below).¹⁰³ In addition, Vietnam’s Law on Child Protection prohibits torture and mistreatment of children, and corporal punishment of juvenile offenders.¹⁰⁴

According to Christian Salazar-Volkman, a consultant for UNICEF, police in Vietnam have been trained in juvenile justice standards.¹⁰⁵ She states that awareness-raising campaigns and workshops in Hanoi have “improved the conduct of Vietnamese police towards children in conflict with the law. However there are still reports of beatings of children by the police… Surveys of street children reveal fear of being arrested by the police, as harsh treatment, including shouting and beating, might take place.”¹⁰⁶

Fear of police

Periodic street sweeps by police that lead to children being detained in inappropriate facilities and at risk of abuse mean many children try to steer clear of the police. Even though street children are vulnerable to abuses on the streets by gangs, private security guards, pimps, and pedophiles, many of those we interviewed said they live in fear of the police and avoid them even when in need of protection.¹⁰⁷

In a 2003 survey, thirty-eight percent of Hanoi street children said their greatest fears and risks included being picked up or beaten by the police, or sent to jail.¹⁰⁸ Some children said they were reluctant to seek medical treatment when ill for fear the police would be called and send them home. Only 1 percent of the children surveyed indicated they would seek assistance from the police.

“I evade the police by running into the staircase of an apartment block whenever I hear the siren,” said Danh, a 17-year-old orphan from Thanh Hoa province. “I’ve had to do this many times. Every time I hear the siren, I feel afraid. I wouldn’t know what to do if I get arrested, so I run as fast as I can.”¹⁰⁹

Canh, a 17-year-old from Hung Yen said he felt his work as a shoe shiner was dangerous “because of the police. If I’m arrested, I’ll be sent to detention camp where life is hard.”¹¹⁰

Detention at Dong Dau Social Protection Center

As already noted, the first time most Hanoi street children are picked up by police, they are sent to Dong Dau Social Protection Center, located in Dong Anh district on the outskirts of Hanoi. The typical stay is two weeks. Detainees are of all ages and include prostitutes, drug addicts, shoe shiners, porters, street vendors, rubbish collectors, newspaper boys, vagrants, and beggars.

In theory, Dong Dau’s mandate as a Social Protection Center should be to provide community-based rehabilitation services. In reality, it is a short-term jail where they have been sent without judicial intervention, oversight, or redress. It is a form of arbitrary punishment that leaves children worse off when they leave than when they went in.

A 15-year-old boy described his arrival at the center:

I got to Dong Dau at 5 p.m. When I arrived I was car sick—the truck [paddy wagon] was totally enclosed so we couldn’t even see out. I fell down getting off the truck. After that, I filled out the form asking about the details about my family. Then I was sent to a cell. I asked if I could contact my family, but they didn’t let me.

On the first day, eight people came with me. We were all very sad. Some people cried all day, and they didn’t eat anything. When I was lining up for dinner, I didn’t feel like eating anything, so I was moving slowly. So were the others. The guards came and made us kneel down in the middle of the room. We weren’t allowed to eat anything. The first time we got to eat was the next day at 10 a.m.¹¹¹

Children who have been detained at Dong Dau told Human Rights Watch that it looks like a prison. It consists of a series of concrete holding cells, surrounded by a three-meter tall wall topped by barbed wire.¹¹² Outside the cells is a public toilet (two rooms, one meter square) and bathroom (four to five meters square with buckets and a water tank) and a dining hall. None of the children described any recreation, education, training or rehabilitation activities or facilities at Dong Dau, and none received any medical care during their stay there.

Upon arrival, detainees are told to line up until their name is called. They must fill out a form giving their address in the countryside and information about their family. In some cases staff persons interview detainees about their personal information, filling out the forms for them. The children are photographed, holding a card with a number on it.

Children interviewed by Human Rights Watch said that staff does not inform their families about where they are, which means that many children do not have visits or other communication with family or friends.¹¹³ Moreover, the facility—located 30 kilometers from the center of Hanoi—is not easily accessible to most families.

Abuses at Dong Dau

Although Vietnam’s Law on Child Protection prohibits the torture, mistreatment, or use of corporal punishment against children,¹¹⁴ as does Vietnam’s Constitution,¹¹⁵ children interviewed by Human Rights Watch gave vivid accounts of serious abuse at Dong Dau—including instances of corporal punishment, collective punishment, placement in isolation, deprivation of food and medical treatment, and denial of family contact.

Most of the children who spoke to Human Rights Watch said they are provided little or no information about rules and procedures. Despite this, children also reported that they could be beaten if a guard decided that they were not complying with the rules (see below). One child said that some rules are listed on the notice board in the canteen. He said the rules are: no fighting in the room; no food in the room; and presents from visitors are not allowed to be kept in the room but must be handed to guards.¹¹⁶

None of the children we spoke with were aware of any process for challenging the legality of their detention or making complaints about their conditions or treatment.¹¹⁷ International standards on juvenile detention require that children in detention centers should be promptly and clearly informed of the facility’s regulations, as well as their own rights and obligations during detention.¹¹⁸

Beatings

All of the children interviewed by Human Rights Watch have witnessed beatings of children and adults by staff at Dong Dau: at least six of the 11 who had been to Dong Dau had been beaten themselves. Many of the children said they saw at least one person beaten every day. The beatings were often accompanied by abusive language.

Children said they, as well as adult detainees, were sometimes beaten for benign behavior which could not be interpreted as being in violation of any rules. One child saw an adult detainee beaten “very badly” for “looking at newcomers.”¹¹⁹ Another adult detainee was hit repeatedly with clubs by the guards after he made a joke.

New arrivals can be beaten simply because they are unaware of the center’s procedures. One boy said:

I didn't know how to queue when I first arrived. The guards came and hit me with a rubber club. They hit me everywhere… more than 20 times, on the right side of my back, lower and upper arms. It still hurts. [He gestures and points to different parts of his body with a wince.] Then they sent me back to the room without food. It was too painful to eat anyway. My back and right shoulder were swollen. I had scratches all over my arms. I asked to go back to bed because it was too painful. I just sat there. [Another prisoner] who was staying in the room had something to relieve the pain. I didn’t eat for two days, it was too painful to eat.¹²⁰

Some street children also use drugs. If this drug use becomes apparent through urine tests on arrival at the center, the children are sometimes beaten. Kien recounted:

I saw people beaten all the time in Dong Dau, every day. When we first arrived, some of us were beaten. They test us for drugs, and if the result is positive, they beat us very badly.¹²¹

Another child was beaten shortly after arrival at Dong Dau because a staff person thought he was lying about his personal information on the intake form.

When I had to fill out the form, he asked me how many times I had been there. I told him twice, but he thought I was lying. He thought I must have been there four times. I told him he was wrong, so he hit me. He used a rubber club to hit me all over my body. He hit me twice on the back and shoulder, and twice on the back of my thighs.¹²²

A 22-year-old woman who had been working as a postcard seller in Hanoi since she was 15, said she was physically punished during her several stays at Dong Dau. “At Dong Dau, the police slapped me because I was too slow in responding to their questions,” she told us.¹²³  

Children also reported that on occasion beatings would be administered to groups of children at a time, as a form of collective punishment for the wrongdoing of one or two others, and not because the individual children had done something wrong. For example, Trang explained: “The guards would go into the room, make everyone kneel down, and then beat everyone.”¹²⁴

According to those interviewed, medical care was not generally provided after the beatings.¹²⁵

Punishment of children who try to escape

From the children we spoke with, it appears that those who try to escape are subject to particularly harsh treatment. 15-year-old Minh told Human Rights Watch:

Those who tried to run away were beaten with rubber clubs. Some got broken legs and arms. I don’t know what happened to them after they were injured. We didn’t see them [again].¹²⁶

Another boy, Quoc, described seeing two staff persons—one of whom served as the camp doctor—beat an 11-year-old boy after he tried to escape.

He was afraid he was going to be sent to Ba Vi, so he tried to run away while we were eating. They caught him and hit him. One man punched him, the other man kicked him. They pushed his head into the wall and hit him with a rubber bludgeon. Everyone saw it.¹²⁷

Several other boys tried to hide during the day so they could escape at nightfall, Quoc said:

One boy hid under the staircase. He intended to flee at dusk. But the pig keeper saw him and pinpointed him. They caught him and beat him. There were two more boys hiding in the water tank. When people pumped water in, they could not breathe and had to come out. They forced them to kneel down. They kneeled from morning to noon. They were not allowed to eat that day.¹²⁸

Some of the accounts suggest that a form of solitary confinement was also used as a sanction. Fourteen-year-old Anh explained:

I saw one kid, bigger than me, who tried to run away. He was caught and beaten. Some [local] journalists had come for a visit. The boy pretended he had a stomach ache. He cried very loudly. The guards were afraid that the journalists would hear him… They locked him in a separate room. The guards waited till the journalists left then beat him. I saw a guard holding a black rubber club. He pulled the boy outside the room and hit him. He swore and shouted as he did it. I was in my room but saw through a small hole in the door. The boy was only a bit bigger than me. He was then locked in the room again, alone. Meals were sent to him in that room… I didn’t see his injuries because the room was too far away. I heard him crying in the room when I walked past.¹²⁹

Legal standards regarding use of force

The UN Rules for the Protection of Children Deprived of their Liberty explicitly prohibit corporal punishment, placement in a dark cell, closed or solitary confinement, and collective sanctions which are considered to be inherently cruel, inhuman, and degrading.¹³⁰ The rules make clear that detention center staff must not: “inflict, instigate or tolerate any act of torture or any form of harsh, cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment, punishment, correction or discipline under any pretext or circumstance whatsoever.”¹³¹ Staff should ensure the full protection of the physical and mental health of children in detention, and report any violations to authorities.¹³²

Under international standards, staff at detention centers may only resort to force to prevent a youth from inflicting self-injury, injuries to others, or serious destruction of property. The use of force should be limited to exceptional cases, after all other methods have been exhausted and failed; it should never cause humiliation or degradation.¹³³ The use of restraint and force should only be used in accordance with prescribed regulations, in clearly specified ways, in “exceptional cases,” under the authority of the director in consultation with appropriate staff.¹³⁴ Detention center officials should always inform family members of injuries that result from the use of force.¹³⁵

The treatment of street children at Dong Dau as reported to Human Rights Watch indicates that staff disciplinary practices and use of force generally does not comply with international standards. On the contrary, the cases reported to Human Rights Watch suggest that the treatment of street children may at times constitute cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, in violation of Vietnam’s obligations and the rights of the street children under both the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the ICCPR.

Conditions of detention

The children who spoke to Human Rights Watch provided consistent descriptions of the cells they stayed in at Dong Dau. Their descriptions are of cells that are furnished with a light and fan that remain on, regardless of the time or temperature. The cells usually have a single window which is always closed. There is a communal bucket in the cell for use as a toilet. The bucket is emptied twice daily but the smell of excrement is permanently present in the cells.

Accounts vary on the size of the cells, with most describing overcrowded spaces holding between eight and thirty detainees. Most cells have plank beds; but some detainees must sleep on the floor. Some have dirty blankets. Children generally wear the clothes in which they are arrested, but are not allowed to wear their shoes or keep personal possessions. Children are routinely locked in the same overcrowded rooms with adults for long periods of time.

One boy described being locked in a small room (three by eight meters) with more than 10 people. ¹³⁶ Another boy, Binh, described the cell in which he stayed:

There were windows, but they were shut…tied with metallic string. Day and night was the same because the light was on all the time. There were some wooden surfaces to sleep on but there were not enough, so people who were there first got those. Others slept on the floor. We had just enough space to lie down. I couldn’t even turn my body. Staying there for one day is like staying there for one month. We just sat in the room. We couldn’t do anything.¹³⁷

Separation of male and female detainees is the only apparent classification for the assortment of people of all ages detained at Dong Dau. Children as young as two to three years old can be detained together with adults as old as 79.¹³⁸ One toddler who was imprisoned with his mother was left on his own in the cell when his mother was subsequently sent away.¹³⁹

“There were beggars who were 60- to 70-years-old, porters who were 35 to 40 years old,” said one boy. “The youngest person was ten years old. He was a beggar and was carrying a baby of two- to three-years-old. The baby was also in the room.”¹⁴⁰ Of the 28 people in his room, he estimated that about ten were under 20 years of age.

Detainees are released twice daily usually for half-hour periods during which time they can eat, empty the bucket of excrement, and use the toilet. If there is time, they can bathe in a communal room or wash their clothes. Many do not bathe at all for the duration of their stay because there is not enough time.

At meal times, if we ate quickly then we could go and shower. In my time there [14 days], I showered three times. The water there is not clean. I felt itchy after a shower.¹⁴¹

A 15-year-old boy said:

Early in the morning I was allowed to go and empty the piss bucket, so I had a few minutes to wash my face. But there was not time to brush my teeth or have a proper shower. I didn’t have a shower the whole time I was there [18 days].¹⁴²

The usual meal is a small bowl of poor quality rice with meager servings of tofu, pig neck, or fatty meat. ¹⁴³ “I went to the camp fat, but left it thin,” said Phuoc after 15 days’ detention:

Every meal we had one bowl of rice, two pieces of meat—the neck of a pig, or small pieces of shrimp or tofu. Lunch was at 10 a.m., dinner at 4 p.m. So we were very hungry in the mornings.¹⁴⁴

Legal standards for conditions in detention

The UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty outline the following standards that should be observed where children are placed in detention:

• Children should be detained in small-scale “open” (as opposed to “closed”) detention facilities with minimal or no security measures, enabling individualized treatment. Facilities should be identified in locations that provide access and contact between the children and their families.¹⁴⁵
• Children should not be detained with adults unless they are related.¹⁴⁶
• Food must be provided at normal intervals in sufficient quality and quantity; and clean drinking water should be available at all times.¹⁴⁷
• On a daily basis, children should be provided a suitable amount of time for free exercise in the open air. ¹⁴⁸
• Sleeping accommodations should be secure and adequate, preferably in small dormitories or private rooms, with separate and clean bedding provided.¹⁴⁹
• Private, sanitary, and decent bathrooms should be provided, and children should be able to bathe as often as needed for general hygiene.¹⁵⁰
• Children should be provided suitable clothing, and allowed the option of wearing their own clothing.¹⁵¹
• Adequate medical care, both preventative and remedial, should be provided.¹⁵² Medical services should seek to detect and treat any physical or mental illness, substance abuse or condition. Any child who is ill, complains of illness, or exhibits symptoms of physical or mental problems, should be promptly examined by a medical officer.¹⁵³
• Detention facilities for children should provide appropriate rehabilitative services and should ensure privacy, sensory stimuli, and opportunities for association with peers, participation in sports, physical exercise, and leisure activities.¹⁵⁴
• The facilities should provide activities and programs aimed at promoting the child’s self-respect and sense of responsibility, and encouraging attitudes and skills to help them reintegrate into society in productive ways.¹⁵⁵
• Education, vocational training, and access to a library should be provided.¹⁵⁶

In sum, international law provides that children in detention should be treated with respect for their human dignity, giving special consideration to their particular needs as children in such difficult circumstances.¹⁵⁷ Their physical, mental, and moral integrity and well-being should be protected.¹⁵⁸ When children are detained as a last resort, the conditions in which they are detained must respect their human rights.¹⁵⁹ The conditions in Dong Dau described by children previously detained there do not meet these standards, and are likely to be hazardous to the children’s health. Detaining children in such conditions violates Vietnam’s legal obligations under both ICCPR and CRC.

Visitors

Most of the children interviewed by Human Rights Watch do not receive family visits while they are detained at Dong Dau. They are not even allowed to write or call their families.¹⁶⁰ Several children allege that the staff demands bribes for allowing visits or extending visiting hours.¹⁶¹ Other children allege that officials can be bribed by visiting families to release detainees, with one child citing a fee of 4 million dong (U.S.$250).¹⁶²

In November 2004, a Vietnamese newspaper alleged that family members of children in detention at Dong Dau were forced to pay bribes in order to visit their children, have the children released early, and prevent them from being sent for longer detention at Ba Vi:

If they want the arrested person to be released earlier or not to be sent to the center in Ba Vi, they must come to see Mr. K. If Mr. K got … money in advance, the case will be quickly solved. After coming to an agreement on the price, Mr. K will get the signature of the director of the center for the release paper…Mr. K often threatened to send the arrested persons to the center in Ba Vi so their family will be scared and give money to avoid it.¹⁶³

International standards provide that children in detention should be allowed to maintain regular contact with the outside world, including unrestricted communication with their families and, where relevant, lawyers.¹⁶⁴ Vietnamese law states that children in reform schools or detoxification institutions, “shall be regularly visited, spiritually encouraged and supported by their parents and guardians; the reform schools and detoxification establishments must facilitate the child to keep in touch with their families and alternative families.”¹⁶⁵

Psychological impact of detention

Many children told us they were isolated, frightened, sad, and homesick during their stay at Dong Dau, as well as afterwards.¹⁶⁶ They said there was nothing to do during the 20-three hours a day they were locked in cells. They said they were offered no schooling,¹⁶⁷ no vocational training, no counseling, no social services—no activities at all.¹⁶⁸

“We slept until we couldn’t sleep anymore,” Phuoc told Human Rights Watch. “We talked, sang stupid songs. It was very boring in the camp. I spent most of my time thinking. At first I thought about clever things, then stupid things.”¹⁶⁹

People who work with street children told Human Rights Watch that the children are withdrawn and depressed after returning from detention.¹⁷⁰

Many children said they spend their time at Dong Dau thinking about their families, 15-year-old Duc told us:

I was always depressed, sad, bored. Many nights, I was lying on my bed, thinking how it’s so unfair to be somewhere like this. I don’t deserve it. There shouldn’t be any violence in a Social Protection Center.¹⁷¹

The violence that children experience and witness (described above) can also be traumatic. Duc said he became numb to the trauma while it was taking place:

[The guard] used a rubber club to hit me all over the body… Because I was already feeling so desperate and so depressed, it didn’t hurt so bad.”¹⁷²

Months after his last release from Dong Dau, Lanh, a 15-year-old who had been sent to Dong Dau twice remained upset and traumatized. He burst into tears when describing the beatings he witnessed there, although he himself was never beaten:

My room was near the guard’s room, and we could see through the [open] door. They beat children every day. We could always see and hear the beatings. It was terrible. Most of the staff were women—they were even more cruel than the men. They would beat the children for things like smoking. If they saw you smoking, they would beat you.¹⁷³

Lanh was too distressed to continue the interview.

Circumstances around release

Most children we spoke with said they are released from Dong Dau after around 15 days. A boy who was detained when he was 18 years old described his release:

I was very excited to hear that I could leave the camp. After meals, the staff would go from room to room with a list, calling out the names of those supposed to go home. All of us were very excited. Those whose names were called would stand up and be sent to a different room, where they waited for the bus. I just wanted to leave that place immediately.¹⁷⁴

Before release, the children say they have to sign a paper stating that they will not return to the street and they understand that if arrested another time, the punishment will increase:

When we were released, the fattest staff person there made us sign a pledge not to work on the street anymore but go home when we got out. If we were caught again, the punishment will be doubled. He said: “Now you go home. Don’t stay in Hanoi. Do you think that Hanoi is some kind of sweet cake? Don’t think it’s so simple—that you can just shine a pair of shoes, get 2,000 dong, no problem. … You risk being arrested. It’s best to go home.”¹⁷⁵

Personal belongings confiscated upon arrival are usually returned to the children. Some are given 10,000 dong [US$0.62] to catch the bus back to Hanoi. Most of the children Human Rights Watch spoke with were then deposited outside the gate of the center, left to find their own way. Two children interviewed by Human Rights Watch were met by family members upon release, in one case after an uncle who was a policeman intervened for the child’s release.

Vietnam’s various policies and decrees regarding street children promote family reunification.¹⁷⁶ In addition, People’s Committees are responsible for coordinating family reunification of children upon release from reform schools or detoxification centers by providing “specific solutions to support the child to progress and re-integrate with his or her family [and] community when coming back...”¹⁷⁷

None of the children interviewed by Human Rights Watch, however, were reunited with their families upon release. While some may have been provided enough money to catch the bus to Hanoi, none were provided sufficient social services or financial assistance to enable them to meet their families or return homes in the provinces after leaving the center.

After release, the children we spoke with said that none of them, or their families, filed complaints about their detention, despite provisions in Vietnamese law that allow citizens to file complaints against government authorities.¹⁷⁸ Few know how to file a complaint, are offered any assistance to do so, or have any faith that filing a complaint will do anything other than bring reprisals.

All of the children interviewed by Human Rights Watch resumed working on the streets of Hanoi, some after a brief visit home. 14-year-old Quoc told us:

They did not give me anything when I was released. I took care of myself. I got my shoes back, people led me to the gate, that was it. I showed my paper at the gate and they let me out. I had barely enough money to get a bus to Long Bien bus station. I slept on the bridge for four nights. I borrowed some tools from a guy I know, and went to shine shoes. After shining some shoes, I went back to the bridge. When I had enough money, I went back to the guesthouse.¹⁷⁹

The children often return to the streets in much worse shape than before they went into detention, as described by a social worker in Hanoi:

When we first meet kids after coming out of [detention], they are normally extremely dirty, hungry, and have no money. They are commonly afflicted with scabies and untreated wounds, such as open cuts on their hands and arms. At least half of the time, the kids have visible bruises from beatings.¹⁸⁰

Detention at Ba Vi Social Protection Center

Street children who have been sent to Dong Dau more than one or two times are often sent for longer periods of detention to Ba Vi Social Protection Center.

Located 40 miles northwest of Hanoi in Ba Vi district of Ha Tay province, Ba Vi is classified as a “05-06” facility for mandatory rehabilitation of adult drug users and sex workers, according to social workers in Hanoi. ¹⁸¹ The detoxification center, meant for 800 people, had as many as 1,100 drug addicts staying there during 2004, according to state media.¹⁸²

Descriptions of Ba Vi vary widely. It appears that there are at least two separate multi-building facilities, some for men and others for women. In addition to the detoxification center, Ba Vi reportedly includes an orphanage, programming for HIV/AIDS, and possibly an orthopedic center.¹⁸³ It is not clear if street children are held in a separate section, or mixed in with the others.

Conditions of detention

The children Human Rights Watch talked to about their experiences at Ba Vi said conditions were better there than at Dong Dau. They were allowed to leave their cells to work, so it was not as boring, and the treatment was better. They are fed three times a day—“more food than Dong Dau, with some variety”— and one child said he was “never hungry.”¹⁸⁴ The children say the water is better than at Dong Dau, but if they shower too often, they still get a rash.

A 15-year-old boy told us about his detention at Ba Vi a month after he was released:

When I got to Ba Vi, I expected it to be a bad place, but it was not so bad. It was better than my life on the streets…. During the time I was there, I was never hungry. The living conditions were okay ¹⁸⁵

Nonetheless, problems remain. Children are usually detained at Ba Vi with no opportunity to challenge the legality of their detention, or to make complaints conditions or mistreatment there. Some of the street children we talked with were housed in cells that included adults, except for one child, who was sent to the section for orphans. Several children gave disturbing reports of being beaten by staff and other detainees, and seeing staff members beat other children. Some children also made serious allegations about inadequate medical attention to ill people.

Detained with adults

Ba Vi is classified as an “05-06 Center” for adult drug users and prostitutes. “Technically those centers are not for kids but you often see them there anyway,” said one staff person from an international organization in Hanoi. ¹⁸⁶ Most of the children we spoke with stayed in rooms they described as cells, sometimes together with adults.

A 15-year-old boy told us that the 12 people in his cell ranged in age from 17 to thirty-years-old.¹⁸⁷ He said that detainees were let out of the cells from 6-11 a.m., were sent back to the cells until 2 p.m., and then let out again to work until 5:30 p.m. Sometimes in the evening they were let out of the cells again to watch television. Other children reported only being let out for three hours a day.

The children said they had to work at Ba Vi—picking up leaves, digging mud, feeding pigs and chickens, and cleaning the building and kitchen—but most welcomed the opportunity to stay active in the absence of any other educational or rehabilitative services.¹⁸⁸

Conditions appear to be better in the section for orphans than in the group cells. Hai, a 12-year-old orphan from Quang Ninh province, who was arrested in 2005 while begging in a market in Hanoi, told us he was taken to a section for orphans at Ba Vi. He slept in a small upstairs room with three other boys, each with their own bed. Girls were on another floor, he said, and each floor had a communal toilet. ¹⁸⁹ His room had a fan, light, and windows that opened.

A social worker who works with street children in Hanoi referred to Ba Vi as a “youth prison,” saying:

It’s a highly inappropriate placement for children who have committed no crime. One teenager reported that heroin is widespread in the prison, and children also say they are given no opportunity to study. Instead, they must work, caring for trees. But they report that they prefer this to Dong Dau because they are not as bored. The reports on food vary over time; some children have found it sufficient, others say it was inadequate.¹⁹⁰

Beatings

Several children told Human Rights Watch they were beaten and witnessed beatings of others while they were at Ba Vi. Other children said they were bullied and beaten by other detainees, and that the staffs do not stop older prisoners from picking on the younger ones.¹⁹¹

Trang said beatings are a disciplinary measure used when people disobey rules, don’t want to wash their dishes, or fight with each other. ¹⁹² He said he witnessed many people “beaten badly.” Afterwards none were provided medical treatment for injuries. Trang said he was beaten with a stick after disobeying the staff.¹⁹³

Hoa, who spent three months in Ba Vi in 2006, spoke with Human Rights Watch shortly after her release. “At Ba Vi they beat me because I did not work fast enough,” she said. “They treat us like dogs.”¹⁹⁴

Visitors

While children said they were allowed to receive visitors and write letters to their families, only one of the children interviewed by Human Rights Watch (Binh) received a family visit during his stay at Ba Vi. Some of the children interviewed by Human Rights Watch said their families were informed of their detention; however, like Dong Dau, the facility is not easily accessible from Hanoi. Some children told us that staff confiscated gifts of food or money that visitors brought to other children.¹⁹⁵

Journalists and officials have been taken on government-organized tours of Ba Vi to tour the orphanage and what the government presents as a “model” HIV/AIDS program. Some are certain, however, they are seeing only a small portion of the huge facility, and none that Human Rights Watch spoke with had ever seen the section where street children are detained.¹⁹⁶ Street children told us that they were not allowed to speak freely with visiting delegations.

One time some [Vietnamese] journalists came. We all had to wash before they came, and that day we had lots to eat. Some of the girls were chosen to speak to the journalists. We were all too afraid to say anything, or the guards might kill us.¹⁹⁷

“When visitors come or they put us on television, they give us a new shirt to wear,” said Hoa, who was detained at Ba Vi in 2006.¹⁹⁸

A western journalist in Hanoi who visited part of Ba Vi on a press tour said: “It’s not a real prison, but a prison by our standards. In Vietnam, it’s hard to tell the difference between a re-education camp and a penal institution. What’s clear is that people are not there of their own free will.”¹⁹⁹

Release

The children we spoke with left the facility no better equipped to improve or change their lives than when they went in. They said they were not offered any counseling, training, or educational services at Ba Vi.²⁰⁰

On release from Ba Vi, the children are made to sign a commitment not to return to the street, and their possessions and the money they arrived with is usually returned. Three children said they are given 10,000 dong ($ 0.62) upon release.²⁰¹ All of the children we spoke with returned to life on the streets in Hanoi. Two boys said they took the bus and one said he hitchhiked back to the city.²⁰²

Hoa, who has been working on the streets as a postcard seller since she was 15, spent three months in Ba Vi in 2006.

When I got out of Ba Vi, I had no way to make a living—the police took away all my postcards. I have no one to rely on. My father is dead; my mother and brother are still detained at Ba Vi.My mother is a water-seller and my brother shines shoes.²⁰³

Completely destitute, a month after her release from Ba Vi, Hoa was spending her days seeking refuge in public areas, and her nights sleeping on the streets.

Hai, the 12-year-old orphan, was released after three months, even though he had no parents or guardian or means of supporting and housing himself:

I stayed there for exactly three months. They gave me 10,000 dong when I left—the money I had in my pocket when I came. It was not enough for the bus, so I hitchhiked back to Hanoi. When I got there, first I begged in Dong Xuan market. Then I moved to Hang Da market. I am still begging now.²⁰⁴