Despite chilly weather, sometimes down to only one degree Celsius, many child hawkers are out in raincoats selling trinkets to travelers in Sa Pa, a resort town in Lao Cai Province, northern Vietnam.

Over the past several days, this well-known tourist destination welcomed more than 12,000 visitors, some of them were targeted by child street vendors, who brought small souvenirs or other objects, around the town.

A mobile car run by Sa Pa Town authorities constantly drove around the Stone Church and other popular attractions in the town to send a message to tourists through a loudspeaker, warning them not to buy goods from child peddlers or give them money.

“Some children are being abused by their relatives who take unfair advantage of them and exploit their labor to earn money, adversely affecting Sa Pa’s tourism,” the message was read over the loudspeaker.

“Therefore, visitors are kindly recommended not to contact, buy goods from or give money to child hawkers so that they may return home for playing or studying.

"Should you do otherwise, you will place your kindness in the wrong place, for their relatives will still continue forcing them to wander around as street vendors to compel or implore travelers to buy their goods…”

Despite the messages airing repeatedly, a lot of child hawkers continued rushing to travelers insistently trying to sell their items.

In fact, after the Sa Pa administration applied this measure over the past year, the number of such child peddlers has reduced remarkably as many families no longer force their children to make money this way.

However, there remain a group of child street vendors that target tourists at the church and a nearby area called the 'Sa Pa Love Market,' as well as on Xuan Vien Street.

Many children were sent there by their mothers who watched them sell goods from a distance.

These women thought that some travelers would buy souvenirs from the children out of pity.

Hoang Thi Linh, a Hanoi woman, said it was pitiful to make child peddlers trudge around to offer goods for sale in weather conditions of only one or two degrees Celsius.

“I used to buy goods from and donate money to such children, but after that I was surrounded by a lot of child street vendors who repeatedly compelled me to buy their wares, so I decided to stop contacting them,” Linh told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

Linh expressed her hope this situation would come to an end soon so tourists could go around easily and the children could have time for play or study.

Some mothers deliberately sent their children to the streets as child hawkers although local authorities advised them not to do so, said Hoang Thi Vuong, head of the Information and Culture Bureau of Sa Pa Town.

“Actually, this is a form of livelihood for those adults who abuse child hawkers to get pity from tourists who will then buy their wares or give them some money.” Vuong said. 

This deprives them of their childhood as well as their time for studies, the official stated.

On the other hand, these children have yet to be vaccinated against the coronavirus so they may get the pathogen from the travelers to whom they offer goods for sale, she warned.    

“For a beautiful Sa Pa image in the eyes of travelers, I hope visitors will support the local administration in its efforts to put a stop to the scene of child street vendors nagging tourists to buy stuff from them,” Vuong told Tuoi Tre.

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