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Stolen from Mongolia for sex

Three years ago, unable to afford tuition in the Mongolian capital, the native of remote Zavkhan province spotted an ad in a newspaper advertising a scholarship to study in Korea — no tuition, no living costs. All that was required was a high school diploma and a passport.

She handed over her documents to a Mongolian couple supposedly working for the university, and within weeks Nomin was on an airplane bound for Seoul with two other young women.

“When we arrived the couple told us it’s not a good time to enter university. They told us we had to work in a nightclub until the semester starts,” says Nomin (not her real name), now 25, in a near whisper during an interview in an Ulan Bator parking lot. “Everybody was speaking Korean. We were wondering what was going on.”

The girls were taken to Jeju Island, locked in a small apartment, beaten and forced to prostitute themselves in a local hostess bar. Three months later, with the help of a Mongolian businessman she met at the club, Nomin escaped through a bathroom window and made her way to Seoul and eventually back to Mongolia. Her family still doesn’t know what really happened to her.

Between 3,000 and 5,000 Mongolians are trafficked every year, according to NGO estimates; the vast majority are women and children recruited by deceit to work in the sex industry. They are lured by promises of lucrative jobs in nightclubs and massage parlors only to find themselves trapped in a system of modern slavery. Their passports are confiscated and they are locked in “debt bondage,” in which traffickers demand exorbitant repayment for travel and other costs.

Some, like Nomin, manage to escape. Most, lacking money, travel documents and assistance of any kind, stay for several years. Many are beaten, forced to take drugs, raped and sold repeatedly. They work in the bars of Beijing, the saunas of Macau, and the brothels of Erlian, a Gobi desert boomtown on the China-Mongolia border.

“Trafficking is growing very fast,” says Amgalan Erdenechuluun, a project officer at the Human Security Policy Studies Center, an NGO in Ulan Bator. The young women “want to believe that there’s something better out there. But when they reach the destination country they find themselves trapped in a nightmare. They’re just slaves.”

According to the U.S. State Department’s 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report, released in June, Mongolian trafficking victims have been found in a growing number of countries as far reaching as Germany, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and more. And an increasing cohort of Mongolian women are entering into arranged marriages with foreigners – mostly South Koreans – but end up in situations of involuntary servitude.

Traffickers prey on the desire for a better life. Some are friends and relatives of the victims, who are generally uneducated and desperate for a way out of poverty. Targets are often prostitutes who are misled about pay and working conditions; others are recruited by advertisements in newspapers or on late night TV. In one recent case, 19 women were trafficked to China on the promise of jobs as flight attendants.

“These girls are poor. They see other girls wearing nice clothes, going to school. They want that too,” says Anya Manga, coordinator with the Children and Young People’s Protection and Development NGO, which raises awareness about trafficking with at-risk youth. “They want to go abroad. They think they can get more money there. So they look for people who can take them there. That’s when people take advantage of them.”

Repatriated women suffer physically and emotionally; many are forced to seek medical treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and depression. They are often shunned by their family and society. With no work experience and few options, many return to prostitution or become traffickers themselves. This is trafficking’s vicious circle.

The Mongolia Gender Equality Center, an Ulan Bator NGO, provides shelter, counselling and a path to vocational training for repatriated trafficking victims. According to Ganbayasgakh Geleg, the GEC’s head, the group helped about 25 victims from 2003 to 2007; since then, it’s worked with more than 115. “The girls are traumatized. They are very stressed,” she says. “There’s risk of becoming a trafficker. Risk of being trafficked again. Suicide.”

Other than the GEC, trafficking victims have few options when they return home. The Mongolian government still does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, the State Department report says. There remains no stand-alone anti-trafficking law, and although the government cooperates with NGOs, it doesn’t provide adequate assistance to victims. Poverty and unemployment, meanwhile, remain rampant.

That leaves trafficking victims like Nomin vulnerable. Since returning to Mongolia from her Korean nightmare, she worked briefly on a pig farm and has now returned to Ulan Bator to look for employment. She remains without a job, but was offered one — at a Korean hostess bar.

For now, she’s staying with relatives in a poor neighborhood.

“In the future I hope to enter university and after graduation I can find a normal job,” she says. “But I don’t know. It’s difficult to find a normal job.”

In Mongolia, sex tourism by S. Korean males leads to anti-Korean sentiment

With Korean men contributing to growth of industry, the damage to Korea’s image has increased

South Koreans’ sex tourism to Mongolia remains widespread. According to an investigative report by The Hankyoreh, Mongolians accused South Korean tourists of spawning a culture of buying sex in their country. In 2002, a South Korean opened the first karaoke bar in Mongolia’s capital city of Ulan Bator and most karaoke bars in Mongolia are owned by South Koreans. The number of karaoke bars in Mongolia has increased to include some 50 bars.

A 35-year-old South Korean businessman, who is only identified by the surname Park and lives in Mongolia, told The Hankyoreh, “When men visit, their purpose is obvious, so the number of bars has increased significantly.”

A Mongolian tour guide, identified only as Matha, said, “Regardless of age, more than 70 percent of male tourists on group tours buy sex.” The tour guide showed a list of business cards that he had received from South Korean tourists, who included a manager of a well-known securities company and a local government official.

Some South Korean nationals who live in Mongolia say they have seen older men who have a 20-something local woman as a mistress. A female South Korean national in Mongolia, who is only identified by her surname Park, said, “Korean men here have the worst behavior. For instance, a 70-something (Korean) man had a Mongolian woman as a mistress. When she got pregnant, he abandoned her and ran away.”

The South Korean embassy in Mongolia said, “Sex tourism is undermining the image of South Korea and its people.” At the end of 2007, there were some 3,000 South Korean nationals in Mongolia. Last year, the number of South Korean tourists to Mongolia stood at some 40,000 people.

With the practice remaining widespread, the Mongolian government stepped up its crackdown on sex tourism by passing new anti-prostitution laws last year. However, the effect was nothing more than a reduction in a few number of karaoke bars.

Perhaps even worse is there are signs that the crackdown has had an adverse effect on the industry. To avoid the crackdown, prostitution has spread to horseback-riding schools, massage parlours and others. An official at a Mongolian horseback-riding school, which is only identified by the letter “G” and is located an hour’s drive from the city center, said, “When (men who are here as sex tourists) arrive at the airport, they are escorted here. Local women arrive here in a different van. When they move off to the grassland, (the women) are accompanied by the men.”

The increase in sex tourism by South Korean male visitors has been a source of rising anti-Korean sentiment among Mongolians, according to South Korean nationals in the country. A 38-year-old South Korean national, who is only identified by the surname Lee and has lived in Mongolia for three years, said the number of assault cases against Korean people is on the rise.

A 42-year-old local tour guide, who is only identified as Temuchin, said, “Anti-Korean sentiment is high because (Korean men) buy sex from (local) women.”

With the recent emergence of a right-wing organization in Mongolia, the damage to Korean people is growing further.

Erden Birk, the head of the country’s biggest right-wing organization, Daiyar, said, “There have been cases in which four 60-something men spent time with one 20-something woman in a room until morning and others in which tourists go directly to an underground karaoke bar at their hotel as soon as they arrive from the airport, without even unpacking their baggage. If these things continue to happen, it will be difficult to stop the violence.”

Last year, South Korea’s Ministry of Gender Equality and Family revised a passport law and the government is now allowed to ban

people who have been arrested for buying sex from being issued new passports or passport renewals. However, the effect of the ban has so far been negligible. Bae Lim Sook-il, the head of the Incheon Women’s Hotline, said, “Prostitution (in South Korea) isn’t even being punished properly. So the government can’t punish people for soliciting prostitution in foreign countries.”

Lee Na-young, a sociology professor at ChungAng University, said, “The mindset and culture of Korean males, which view females as objects of entertainment, needs to be fundamentally changed.”

Sexually transmitted diseases in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Abstract

Although human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) rates are increasing rapidly in Asia, a full understanding of the extent of other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in many of these areas is lacking. There have been anecdotes of rising rates of STDs in Mongolia, a country thus far relatively unaffected by HIV. To further the understanding of STDs, a prevalence study was conducted in the STD clinic in Ulaanbaatar, the capital and largest city in Mongolia. Among 260 patients, the prevalence of gonorrhoea, chlamydia and syphilis was 31.1%, 8.1% and 8.6% respectively for males and 10.3%, 9.9% and 6.0% for females. Sixty-seven per cent of females had trichomoniasis and 19.7% of males had non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU). Forty-two per cent of gonococcal isolates had plasmid mediated resistance to penicillin, and chromosomal resistance to penicillin, tetracycline, and ciprofloxacin was documented. No patients were infected with HIV. STDs are a significant problem in Mongolia. Improved control efforts are urgently needed to prevent the emergence of HIV.

PIP: Situated between Russia and China, two countries with growing rates of HIV prevalence, Mongolia is a country with a population of 2.3 million people. Although there is only 1 known case of HIV infection in Mongolia, HIV is spreading rapidly in Asia. The prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) was assessed among 137 men and 123 women of mean ages 26 and 28 years, respectively, attending the public health STD clinic in Ulaanbaatar, the capital and largest city of Mongolia. Overall, study subjects were aged 15-62 years and mainly from urban areas. Only 1 man and 1 woman admitted to having sex with a same-sex partner. 7% of men and 10% of women consistently used condoms, and 45% of men and 33% of women reported ever having had STDs. 31.1%, 8.1%, and 8.6% of men and 10.3%, 9.9%, and 6.0% of women were infected with gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis, respectively. 19.7% of men had nongonococcal urethritis and 67% of women had trichomoniasis. 42% of gonococcal isolates were plasmid-mediated resistant to penicillin, while chromosomal resistance to penicillin, tetracycline, and ciprofloxacin was observed. Even though no patient was infected with HIV, improved control efforts are urgently needed to prevent the spread of HIV in Mongolia given the existence and communication of STDs in the country.

Reducing Intimate and Paying Partner Violence Against Women Who Exchange Sex in Mongolia: Results From a Randomized Clinical Trial

Abstract

Women who exchange sex for money or other goods, that is, female sex workers, are at increased risk of experiencing physical and sexual violence from both paying and intimate partners. Exposure to violence can be exacerbated by alcohol use and HIV/STI risk. The purpose of this study is to examine the efficacy of a HIV/STI risk reduction and enhanced HIV/STI risk reduction intervention at decreasing paying and intimate partner violence against Mongolian women who exchange sex and engage in harmful alcohol use. Women are recruited and randomized to either (a) four sessions of a relationship-based HIV/STI risk reduction intervention (n = 49), (b) the same HIV/STI risk reduction intervention plus two additional motivational interviewing sessions (n = 58), or (c) a four session control condition focused on wellness promotion (n = 59). All the respondents complete assessments at baseline (preintervention) as well as at immediate posttest, 3 and 6 months postintervention. A multilevel logistic model finds that women who participated in the HIV/STI risk reduction group (OR = 0.14, p < .00), HIV/STI risk reduction and motivational interview group (OR = 0.46, p = .02), and wellness (OR = 0.20, p < .00) group reduced their exposure to physical and sexual violence in the past 90 days. No significant differences in effects are observed between conditions. This study demonstrates the efficacy of a relationship-based HIV/STI risk reduction intervention, a relationship-based HIV/STI risk reduction intervention combined with motivational interviewing, and a wellness promotion intervention in reducing intimate and paying partner violence against women who exchange sex in Mongolia. The findings have significant implications for the impact of minimal intervention and the potential role of peer networks and social support in reducing women’s experiences of violence in resource poor settings.

Physical and sexual violence, childhood sexual abuse and HIV/STI risk behaviour among alcohol-using women engaged in sex work in Mongolia

Background

Although low, HIV prevalence in Mongolia could increase without strategic prevention strategies. Female sex workers (FSWs) often experience barriers to prevention, including interpersonal violence. This study investigated if childhood sexual abuse (CSA) or recent physical or sexual violence was associated with HIV sexual risk behaviours and if CSA modified associations between recent violence and HIV sexual risk behaviours.

Methods

Two-hundred twenty-two women who: (1) were at least 18 years old and clients at the National AIDS Foundation; (2) reported vaginal or anal sex in the past 90 days in exchange for money or goods; and (3) met criteria for harmful alcohol use in the past year were enrolled. In-person interviews assessed sexual risk behaviours and violence in childhood and adulthood. Negative binomial regression, ordinary least squares regression, and modified Poisson regression were performed.

Results

Sexual risk with paying partners was associated with penetrative CSA and sexual violence by paying partners. CSA and recent violence were not associated with sexual risk behaviours with intimate partners. CSA modified the association between recent sexual violence and unprotected sex with intimate partners.

Conclusion

Findings highlight the need for integrated violence and sexual risk reduction services to ensure safe and effective prevention for FSWs.

Keywords: Violence, HIV, Alcohol, Sex work

Introduction

Although the prevalence of HIV in Mongolia is low, Mongolia is at high risk of experiencing an HIV epidemic if rapid and strategic HIV prevention strategies are not instituted (UNGASS, 2010). One hundred cases of HIV have officially been reported, representing less than 0.1% of the adult population (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS [UNAIDS] Mongolia, 2012). This represents a significant increase from just five reported cases as of 2004 (UNAIDS Mongolia, 2012).

A constellation of factors makes Mongolia vulnerable to rapid HIV spread. Mongolia is bordered by Russia to the North and China to the South and East, two countries with increasing numbers of people living with HIV/AIDS. Of new HIV infections in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, almost 90% occur in Russia or the Ukraine (UNAIDS, 2011). In China, while national HIV prevalence remains low, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS continues to increase (Ministry of Health of the People’s Republic of China, 2012). Moreover, groups at elevated risk of contracting HIV in China (e.g., female sex workers, men who have sex with men) report high rates of HIV sexual risk behaviours (Ministry of Health of the People’s Republic of China, 2012). A regional highway is under construction in Mongolia. Once completed, this highway will provide a trade route between Russia and China through Mongolia, likely increasing the migration of workers through Mongolia. Increased migration of workers has been associated with growing HIV epidemics across geographic boundaries on other continents (Elbright, Altantsetseg, & Oyungerel, 2003; Fages, 1999; Hagan & Dulmaa, 2007; UNAIDS, 2001).

In addition, since 1990 Mongolia has experienced a difficult economic transition from a centrally planned (Soviet-supported) to a free market economy, resulting in 27% of the population living below the poverty line (World Bank, 2013). Mongolia has a total population of 2.8 million, 40% of whom live in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar (World Bank, 2013). Ulaanbaatar has experienced increased alcoholism, unemployment and homelessness, a deteriorating health and social services system, and substantial increases in survival sex work among women (Davaalkham et al., 2009; National AIDS Foundation [NAF], 2001, 2003; Purevdawa et al., 1997). Sex work remains illegal in Mongolia, according to the 1998 Mongolian Law against Pornography and Prostitution which banned the organisation and facilitation of prostitution (Carlson, Tsai, Aira, Riedel, and Witte, forthcoming). Despite this law, there are approximately 4,000 commercial sex workers in Ulaanbaatar, the majority of whom are female (UNICEF, 2006). The number of women engaging in sex work in Mongolia fluctuates seasonally with many women engaging in sex work only during warmer summer months (Carlson et al., forthcoming).

In Mongolia, HIV primarily remains clustered among high risk groups including female sex workers (FSWs) and men who have sex with men. Although the most recent Behavioural Surveillance Survey reported a 0% prevalence of HIV among FSWs surveyed, half of all reported female cases of HIV are among FSWs whose paying partners are considered a bridge population in Mongolia (UNAIDS Mongolia, 2012). Because rates of new sexual partner acquisition among FSWs are significantly higher than the general population, FSWs often serve as drivers of HIV in low prevalence settings, contributing disproportionately to the spread of HIV into the general population (Anderson, 1999; Morris and Ferguson, 2006; World Health Organization [WHO], 2011). Given the transmission dynamics of HIV, FSWs are uniquely positioned to prevent a generalised HIV epidemic in low prevalence settings such as Mongolia.

Alcohol use among FSWs is prevalent and normative across countries and commonly used by FSWs to facilitate participation in commercial sex. FSWs are often encouraged or coerced to drink alcohol by clients and pimps (Markosyan et al., 2007). FSWs often report using alcohol while looking for clients and having sex while intoxicated (Chersich et al., 2007; Markosyan et al., 2007; Nishigaya, 2002; Rogers, Ying, Xin, Fung, & Kaufman, 2002). Alcohol use has been consistently associated with violence and HIV risk behaviours among FSWs including unprotected sex, anal sex, STIs, and HIV (Chersich et al., 2007; Li, Li, & Stanton, 2010; Scorgie et al., 2010; Wechsberg, Luseno, & Lam, 2005; Wechsberg, Luseno, Lam, Parry, & Morojele, 2006; WHO, 2011; Yadav et al., 2005).

Studies of sex workers across the globe highlight that multiple traumas, including childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and intimate partner violence (IPV), are associated with HIV sexual risk behaviours among this population (El-Bassel et al., 2003; Paone, Cooper, Alperen, Shi, & Des Jarlais, 1999; Shahmanesh et al., 2009; Surratt, Kurtz, Weaver, & Inciardi, 2005; Ulibarri et al., 2009). FSWs are at particularly high risk of physical and sexual violence from paying and non-paying partners, managers, and the police (Decker et al., 2010; Karandikar & Prospero, 2010; Open Society Institute, 2009; Rhodes, Simic, Baros, Platt, & Zikic, 2008; Simic & Rhodes, 2009; Swain, Saggurti, Battala, Verma, & Jain, 2011). Violence has been consistently associated with increased HIV risk among FSWs, including increased risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), anal sex, and unprotected sex (Decker et al., 2012; Simic & Rhodes, 2009; Swain et al., 2011; Ulibarri et al., 2011).

Experiences of violence contribute significantly to increasing women’s risk of HIV acquisition through biological, behavioural, and social mechanisms (Adimora et al., 2013; El-Bassel et al., 2003; Surrat et al., 2005). Violence is often linked to conflicts over condom negotiation (Wingood, Hunter-Gamble, & DiClemente, 1993). Coercive sex puts women at increased risk of contracting an STI, as they have less control over the situation and safe sexual practices. STIs, in turn, enhance the probability of HIV transmission during unprotected sex (Choi, Chen, & Jiang, 2008). The prevalence of STIs is high and increasing in Mongolia (Davaalkham et al., 2009; Hagan & Dulmaa, 2007). STIs are currently the most prevalent type of communicable disease in Mongolia (UNGASS, 2010).

Research on violence against FSWs in Mongolia remains limited. One study examined the prevalence of violence among FSWs in Mongolia before and after implementing a risk reduction intervention. At baseline, across intervention groups, 38%–52% of FSWs reported recent physical violence from an intimate partner, 50%–62% reported recent physical violence from a paying partner, 12%–16% reported recent sexual violence from an intimate partner, and 26%–36% reported recent sexual violence from a paying partner (Carlson, et al., 2012).

In addition to violence during adulthood, FSWs are more likely to have experienced CSA compared to women not engaged in sex work (Foti, 1995; James & Meyerding, 1977; Potter, Martin, & Romans, 1999). CSA has been associated with HIV sexual risk behaviours, including multiple sexual partners, unprotected sex, anal sex, STI symptoms, and early sexual debut (Lalor & McElvaney, 2010). In addition, women who experience CSA are at increased risk of sexual violence in adulthood from intimate partners (Classen, Palesh, & Arggarwal, 2005; Dunkle et al., 2004; Fanslow, Robinson, Crengle, & Perese, 2007; Fergusson, Horwood, & Lynskey, 1997; Messman-Moore & Long, 2003).

Given that violence is highly prevalent among FSWs and associated with HIV sexual risk behaviours, greater understanding of the nature of these relationships is needed. Recent evidence indicates that, among FSWs, HIV risk may differ by type of violence. For example, among FSWs in Moscow, violence perpetrated by paying clients, but not pimps, was associated with increased STI prevalence (Decker et al., 2012). In addition, despite the high prevalence of both CSA and recent violence against FSWs, little is known about the combined influence of CSA and recent violence on sexual risk behaviours. More specifically, whether CSA interacts with recent sexual or physical violence to further increase FSWs’ risk of engaging in sexual risk behaviours remains understudied. Greater understanding of interactions between violence during childhood and adulthood with sexual risk behaviours is needed to develop effective and appropriate HIV prevention strategies for FSWs, particularly for those with extensive histories of violence. Such information can be used to inform more relevant HIV prevention intervention components targeting FSWs and avoid escalation of HIV transmission in other countries at similarly high risk of experiencing an HIV epidemic, particularly countries with rapidly growing economies like Mongolia.

The purpose of this study is to investigate if (1) CSA is associated with HIV sexual risk behaviours; (2) recent physical or sexual violence is associated with HIV sexual risk behaviours; and (3) CSA modifies the association between recent violence and HIV sexual risk behaviours among FSWs in Mongolia.

Methods

Sample

Data were collected from women receiving services at the National AIDS Foundation (NAF) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Founded in 2000, NAF is the central resource and distribution source for NGO education and training in HIV/STI risk reduction and transmission information in Mongolia. Data are part of a parent study recruiting women for a randomised clinical trial testing the efficacy of an HIV/STI prevention intervention to reduce alcohol abuse and sexual risk behaviours among FSWs (Witte et al., 2011).

A total of 270 women were recruited and screened from 2008 to 2009. Women were eligible for the study if they: (1) were at least 18 years of age; (2) were currently enrolled in the NAF programme; (3) reported having engaged in vaginal or anal sexual intercourse in the past 90 days in exchange for money, alcohol, or other goods; and (4) met criteria for harmful alcohol use in the past year [score of eight or above on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), an internationally validated screening measure for alcohol problems in the past year, where a score of at least 8 or more indicates hazardous or harmful alcohol consumption] (Saunders, Aasland, Babor, DeLaFuente, & Grant, 1993). Of those screened, 41 women were excluded because they did not meet one or more of the eligibility criteria. Of the remaining 229 eligible women, 222 (97%) completed informed consent and baseline interviews. Research assistants administered baseline surveys lasting 60 to 90 minutes in a private setting. Assessments were administered using a computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) method.

Assessment

The assessment interview was designed to elicit self-reported data. Measures were translated into Mongolian from English and then back-translated for accuracy. The assessment was pilot tested with seven NAF and research project staff and determined to have adequate face validity.

Sociodemographics

Sociodemographic variables included: age, race/ethnicity, education, employment status, income, marital status, having an intimate partner, current housing situation, and whether exchanging sex for money was the primary source of income.

Sexual Risk Behaviours

Using a method consistent with the Timeline Followback, participants provided data on the proportion and number of times they engaged in unprotected vaginal and anal sex with paying partners and intimate partners in the past 90 days (Sobell & Sobell, 1992). Measures were assessed separately for paying and intimate partners. A paying partner was defined as someone with whom you have sex in exchange for money, alcohol or other goods. An intimate partner was defined as a spouse, boyfriend, lover, or regular sexual partner who is not a paying partner.

Physical and Sexual Violence

To examine IPV as well as violence related to sex work, an adaptation of the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale was used which combined questions from similar categories (moderate vs. severe) assessing lifetime and recent physical and sexual violence perpetrated by intimate or paying partners (Straus, Hamby, Boney-McCoy, & Sugarman, 1996). ‘Mild’ violence questions, psychological aggression and negotiating behaviours were dropped to reduce questionnaire length. Recent violence was defined as violence that occurred within the past 90 days. The Cronbach’s alpha for the modified scale was 0.75 and 0.76 when measuring violence from intimate and paying partners, respectively.

Childhood Sexual Abuse

CSA was measured using a modified version of the Childhood Sexual Abuse Interview (CSAI). The modified CSAI consisted of 7 of the original 11 items which assessed experiences with someone 5 or more years older than the respondent, ranging from an attempt to have intercourse to forced intercourse. Exposure variables considered less severe and perhaps with less face validity in the Mongolian context were dropped. Each item was scored by assigning ‘1’ for the presence or ‘0’ for the absence of the item. Any CSA was measured by summing the seven items. A summed score of 0 was coded as no CSA; a summed score greater than 0 was coded as positive for any CSA. Penetrative CSA was quantified using four items from the CSAI (i.e., did anyone ever put his penis in your mouth or put their mouth on your private sexual parts, have intercourse with you against your will, insert an object into your vagina or put their penis or object in your bottom?) (Finkelhor, 1978; Sgroi, 1982). A summed score of 0 on these four items was coded as no penetrative CSA; a summed score greater than 0 on these four items was coded as positive for penetrative CSA. The Cronbach’s alpha for the modified scale was 0.72.

Data analysis

Data were collected using a computer-assisted data entry program. A faulty gate question to a single section of the assessment was discovered that affected the first 30 participants. Sexual risk variables with paying partners were missing for these participants. Bivariate analyses were conducted comparing those with and without missing data. There were no significant differences between groups in relation to reported alcohol use, sexual risk with trust partners or experiences of violence. However, those with missing data were significantly younger than those without missing data. No other significant sociodemographic differences were identified. Because the dates that participants completed the assessment were not conditioned on any particular variable, data were missing at random and multiple imputation was performed to complete the data set prior to analyses (Rubin, 1987).

Univariate statistics were used to describe sociodemographic characteristics, sexual behaviours, frequency and types of violence. Negative binomial regression was performed to estimate the incidence rate ratio (IRR) of unprotected vaginal and anal sex in the past 90 days. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression was performed to estimate the b coefficient of the proportion of unprotected vaginal or anal sex in the past 90 days. Modified Poisson regression was performed to estimate the relative risk reduction (RRR) of the prevalence of unprotected vaginal or anal sex in the past 90 days. All analyses were adjusted for age, education, income, marital status, and alcohol use and performed separately for intimate and paying partners. Effect measure modification of the association between recent violence and HIV sexual risk behaviour by CSA was assessed by examining the magnitude and significance of product terms between recent physical or sexual violence and CSA.

Results

Sociodemographics

Descriptive statistics for the study sample are provided in Table 1. The average age of respondents was 34 years (range 18–67); the average age of initiation of sex work was 28 years (range 14–50). Participants were relatively well-educated with 64% having completed secondary school. Almost all (99%) participants were unemployed in formal sectors and reported sex work as their main form of income (93%). Most (60%) participants reported being divorced, widowed, or separated. Forty-four per cent of respondents reported currently having an intimate partner. Because eligibility was limited to women who scored 8 or higher on the AUDIT, all women in the sample were alcohol users. The overwhelming majority (93%) of women screened positive for alcohol dependence (i.e., scored 20 or greater on AUDIT).

Mongolia's prostitution zones, where women trade sex for fuel in sub-zero temperatures

It’s nearing midnight in an unadorned bar on a backstreet off Sükhbaatar Square, and 31 year-old Minjuur rubs her hands to shake off the cold.

Speaking in a whisper, she explains her average evening. Men pick her up from the park by the Central Tower office building, then they go to a nearby hotel for an hour of sex.

Minjuur has a small scar on her right upper cheek that is visible despite her makeup, and she counts on her fingers the number of friends who have died in her line of work. It is minus 20 degrees Celsius tonight, and Minjuur has a chest-rattling cough. Vodka helps her ward off the chill. She says the winter is hard.

Mongolia’s capital presents grim working conditions for the city’s prostitutes. Ulaanbaatar is often overlooked as a centre of prostitution, but – despite increased activity in border areas – it remains the hub for the country’s sex work and sexual trafficking. But as the city’s prostitutes experience violence and social stigma, some are navigating riskier working environments beyond the city.

Prostitution and human trafficking are illegal within Mongolia but the sex trade is growing. While some women solicit openly on the streets of the capital, others work discreetly out of karaoke bars, saunas and massage parlours. Mongolia is a source, transit and destination country for sex labour.

According to a 2014 report from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, between 3,000 and 5,000 women and children are trafficked each year from rural communities into cities and beyond the nation’s borders.

Unicef estimates that roughly 19,000 sex workers are active in Mongolia, however, some field workers cite much higher numbers. The state’s population sits at around 3 million. While male prostitutes do exist, they are a small minority.

The rapid growth of the country’s mining sector over the last decade has created a workforce of isolated men, thereby spurring on the industry. Skirting the border with China, the southern Gobi Desert – where mineral mining projects run by Rio Tinto and other global operations are located – has become a new focal point for prostitution.Girls for sale | Brothels in Bangladesh where men pay child brides

“In Ulaanbaatar there is violence (against prostitutes) – from families and from working people – but inside the mining area everyone comes for the same goal: making money, and they don’t judge one another,” said Sorbonne University Ethnology Professor Gaëlle Lacaze.

Amidst lines of trucks parked against a barren expanse of sand, a converted bus-turned-café is the only option for some tea and conversation. Enkhtaivan Baatar is biding time at Tavan Tolgoi – a coal deposit in Ömnögovi province within the Gobi Desert.

The 39-year-old truck driver in a black hoodie is waiting for his coal shipment so he can drive his cargo across the border. He has been doing this job for three years, and has seen many prostitutes. Cars filled with women pull up off the highway and, when the price is settled, join the drivers in the cab of their truck.

Mongolia’s mining boom started in the early 2000s and mining now accounts for around 20 per cent of Mongolia’s gross domestic product. The growth in mining has created a spike in internal migration to mining areas – most notably Ömnögovi.

The country has a 0.03 per cent general prevalence rate of HIV among adults and, for Mongolians infected, treatment is free. As of 2017 data, however, only 32 per cent of people living with HIV knew their status.

“Mining industries are notorious hotspots for HIV infection,” said UNAIDS Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific Eamonn Murphy. “There is money around, and people are away from their homes and cultural, social and other inhibitors, and so they take risks that they wouldn’t normally.”

The petite 32-year-old entered the industry to earn money after her daughter was born. She began in Ulaanbaatar, but now works along the border. Her clients – truck drivers – sometimes don’t have cash, so they pay her in fuel. Uka would rather work for diesel then return to the conditions facing prostitutes in Ulaanbaatar.

According to Uka, prostitutes in the capital face frequent violence from pimps and customers, but Ömnögovi is better. In contrast to the stigma felt in the city, she describes the border area as accepting and open. Uka explains that four or five women travel to the border area with a driver and rent a ger (a traditional round felted tent) to stay.

Yet when Uka is soliciting in south Gobi, she is working without resources. “It’s risky there,” said Erdenesuren, of working near the Chinese border. “The ones who like to take risks go there.”

In Ulaanbaatar, there are STI awareness programmes and condom distribution, social workers like Erdenesuren try to check up on the women they know, but in the Gobi there is no such infrastructure. Uka explains how the women she works with buy contraceptives off one another when they run out, as there is no store to purchase more. Often customers don’t want to use them anyway.

Ulaanbaatar may offer prostitutes more contact with NGOs providing outreach, but it is a harsh environment for women working in the trade. Previously, Uka sold sex in a sauna in the capital where she alleges police and customers beat her. She claims ultra-nationalists target sex workers on the street and shave their heads to disgrace them. The Ulaanbaatar police did not respond to requests for comment on this story.Violence, drugs and sexual diseases | How de-regulating prostitution is failing women worldwide

In Mongolia, sex work is an occupation shrouded in shame and silence. Erdenesuren cites the cycle of humiliation and fear that keeps women from reaching out to the police and family: “It is better to have your bones broken, then your name dishonoured.”

Uka explains that people don’t openly talk about prostitution and why women end up in sex work. She left school after eighth grade and has few options to earn an income. “For some women, it is easier to open their legs than go to the factory,” said Lacaze, “because they have no diplomas. She is alone with children, she has to eat.”

Uka admits that her daughter has no idea how her mum earns an income. Her family believes she is a cook. In Ulaanbaatar, Minjuur tells her family that her nights are spent serving in a bar. Both women support multiple dependents with their earnings. “Nobody knows what they are doing, but everybody knows,” said Lacaze. “Everybody is complicit.”

Gaamaa occupies one of those beds. The tiny 22-year-old, in sweatpants and a t-shirt, looks like a university student relaxing between classes. She speaks softly. “If girls refuse to have sex, they abuse them and if they can’t change a girl, they sell her,” she said. “They call the trafficker and sell.”

Gaamaa has been bought and sold many times. In 2016, fleeing an abusive home, Gaamaa ended up at a sauna near the central railway station. There, in rooms with barred windows, she worked with four other women for a rate of 40,000 MNT for one hour and 60,000 MNT for two hours (roughly £11 and £17). Their madam supplied food and clothes, but never the money earned. The brothel sold her to another sauna when they found she was trying to escape, but not before she alleges being beaten as punishment and then raped by her attackers.

“Society think they [prostitutes] are garbage,” said Talita Mongolia founder and director Tserenchunt Byamba-Ochir. “There is no funding to protect victims, not one coin to protect victims of trafficking from the Mongolia government – they say we don’t have money for that.”

In 2017, the federal government cut funding to seven regional offices of Mongolia’s sole NGO designed to help sex workers – Perfect Ladies. Only three branches remain. Five women’s shelters operate, but four offer short term stays only. Talita’s Ulaanbaatar branch (the fifth shelter) is the sole long-term rehabilitation center for former prostitutes, and it is at capacity.Sex trafficking hot spot | Switzerland's disastrous prostitution laws

Eventually, Gaamaa was trafficked into China where she worked in multiple cities before a client helped her escape to the Mongolian embassy in Beijing. She arrived at Talita in late 2017.

Gaamaa used to shake as she talked about her experiences and she had nightmares. Now she wraps her arms around a stuffed bear and explains with a smile that she is looking into culinary college. But Gaamaa is also anxious about living in the capital, afraid that someone from her old life will recognise her.

Byamba-Ochir also has concerns. With many of the cases where Talita assists, the traffickers are not charged. Women feel intimidated and change their stories in court, or get pulled back into the trade. Gaamaa believes if she hadn’t been trafficked to China, she would still be a prostitute.

“Here in Mongolia they are not kind,” said Gaamaa. It’s really hard to escape here – it’s everywhere in Ulaanbaatar. It is very hard to escape Mongolia.”

Why is the illegal sex trade in Mongolia repeatedly banned? |Earth Knowledge Bureau

When it comes to special industries, people may first think of the Netherlands or some parts of Southeast Asia.

But, in principle, we are all human beings, both the Dutch and the Southeast Asians, like the rest of the world, without reproductive isolation, and ultimately of the same species.

So, what exists in the Netherlands, Southeast Asia, the rest of the world, which is basic human nature.

According to the Global AIDS Response Progress Report (GARPR) released by United Nations agencies in 2013, about 19,000 people engaged in sex trafficking in 2012.

It's more than 10 years old, and it's very old. Japanese scholars have previously estimated that the number will rise to 23,100 by 2020. However, in 2020, the total population of Mongolia is only 3.4 million. Even based on the data of 2012, the proportion of 5 per 1,000 shows the development degree of special industries in Mongolia.

Taxi counting in the early morning, driving at night in Ulaanbaatar

Special industry is an objective thing. Whether it is legal or not is the subjective qualitative and conscious output of human beings, or it should be determined according to the laws of the host country. Specific to the national law of Mongolia, special industries in the country for the "one size fits all" type to judge illegal.

But why is the industry repeatedly banned in Mongolia?

The development is too backward!

The fundamental reason is obvious, is that the economic development level of Mongolia is too backward!

Mongolia has a large area and few people, the foundation of modern industry and modern agriculture and animal husbandry is extremely weak, and the internal impetus for economic development is insufficient.

Poor, and a lot of natural disasters, too difficult

Fortunately, the country is indeed a resource-rich country, especially in recent years, the country has discovered a series of large copper mines, coal mines, resource exports saved his "great life".

With the export of resources, some foreign companies have also personally entered Mongolia to mine mineral resources. With foreign investment, Mongolia's mining boom began in the early 21st century.

Currently, the mining industry accounts for more than 20% of Mongolia's GDP, bringing in 22.5% of the country's revenue. Mining is a pillar industry, and about 20% of Mongolia's territory is also designated as a "mining area" by the government.

Any industry is filled by manpower, and with the development of mining, a large number of male miners, technicians and transportation workers have emerged. As the pillars of Mongolia's national economy, their economic levels are also at the forefront of Mongolia, and the working conditions of most workers are far away from home, so it is no surprise that these people constitute the main source of "customers" for Mongolia's special industries.

The Oyu Tolgoi copper mine, located in the southern Gobi province of Mongolia, is a typical case.

The mine was discovered in 2001 and was jointly developed by Turquoise Mountain Resources of Canada (owned by Rio Tinto) and the Mongolian government. At one point, the project employed 3,000 to 4,000 employees, after all, most of the employees were male.

In addition, there is a famous coal mine, ——, near the copper mine, which also employs a large number of male miners.

The prosperity of the local mining industry naturally stimulated the "boom" of special industries near the mining area.

According to some questionable related reports, in Mongolia, a

Mongolian Herders Forced Off Grazing Lands Under 'Ecological' Policy

Hundreds of ethnic Mongolian herding families in China's Inner Mongolia region are calling on the international community for help following their forced eviction from a huge area of their traditional grazing lands, local residents said on Thursday.

Several hundreds of people from Zaruud (in Chinese, Zalute) Banner demonstrated outside the offices of the nearby Tongliao municipal government on Sunday over what they said were forced and violent evictions from their homelands in June.

"After we returned to our grazing lands in June to graze our sheep and cattle, the [Arkund] township government dispatched large numbers of riot police and grasslands management officials," the herders said in an open letter issued at the same time.

"They pushed over the herders' yurts and snatched away their livestock, using violence to force 62 herders off their grazing lands," the letter said, according to copy obtained this week.

"Herders who tried to resist were threatened and beaten up by police," it said.

Dagula, a resident of Heyehua village in Zaruud Banner—the administrative equivalent of a county—said she was there at the time.

"On June 25, they forcibly evicted us," she said. "They went into the sheep pens and started grabbing the sheep."

"When we saw our property being snatched away, of course we couldn't stand it, and we tried to stop them."

"There were some clashes," she said. "They behaved like bandits. They didn't even produce any paperwork."

‘Ecological recovery’

The evictions come as part of a widespread "ecological recovery" program under which officials cordon off thousands of acres of valuable grasslands and forbid herders to graze their animals there.

But overseas rights groups say the government's ongoing land grabs have little to do with environmental responsibility and everything to do with exploiting the land for lucrative strip-mining and other natural resources.

Dagula said the trouble had started in the village five years ago when local officials ordered the herders to stop grazing the grasslands and move away.

"The policy at the time was that the grasslands should be rested for five years, and then we could graze them again," she said.

"Those five years have now passed, and we have a 30-year contract to graze these lands still in force."

Dagula said local people no longer believe in the "ecological" policy for managing the region's fragile grasslands.

"They are just using ecological protection as a pretext for evicting us," she said.

She said herders' attempts to petition the Tongliao authorities on Sunday had come to nothing, however.

"They said our demands weren't acceptable," she said.

Greater compensation

One herder, Chenggal, was severely beaten and detained for five days, according to a report paraphrasing the letter on the U.S.-based Mongolian News website.

It said dozens of herders had traveled to municipal government offices in Tongliao last month in a bid to return to their traditional grazing lands.

A second Heyehua resident, Galasang, said local people are also calling on the government for greater compensation for the loss of their livelihoods.

The government has already paid out seven yuan per mu [0.165 acres] for the land, which works out at around U.S. $1,800 per household for the whole five years, residents told RFA.

"There are about 100,000 mu (16,474 acres) involved, and they've been taking it over gradually since 2004," Galasang told RFA on Thursday.

"All the herders have moved to Jarud banner town, where the government finds a job for one person per household," he said.

"That brings in a little over 2,000 yuan (U.S. $327) a month, so the herders are having trouble making ends meet."

Repeated calls to the Zaruud banner government offices rang unanswered during office hours on Thursday.

Instead, some local residents said they had received threatening SMS messages after the petitioning attempt on Sunday.

"If you carry on making trouble, we'll get the criminal gangs to break your legs," one message read.

Another said: "We'll cut out your tongues!"

Earlier this month, authorities in Huvuut-shar (Xianghuang) Banner agreed to boost subsidies to herding families after some 400 people protested the illegal confiscation of their grazing land.

The herders told local ruling Communist Party officials they wanted something done about the illegal confiscation of their grazing land, concerns over mining, official inaction following natural disasters, and delays in compensation payments, the U.S.-based Southern Mongolia Human Rights and Information Center (SMHRIC) reported.

Ethnic Mongolians, who make up almost 20 percent of Inner Mongolia's population of 23 million, regularly complain about environmental destruction and unfair development policies in the region.

Clashes between Chinese companies and ethnic Mongolian herders protesting the exploitation of their grasslands are increasingly common in the region, which borders the independent country of Mongolia.

Rights activists say grasslands on which the herding communities depend for a living are constantly being taken over for China’s mining and tourism industries and for national development projects, forcing them to take action to stand up for their rights.

Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

New research shows: Mongolia forced to give up control over its natural resources

New research by the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) and Oyu Tolgoi (OT) Watch shows how one of the world’s largest copper mines, Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia, was negotiated at the expense of the Mongolian people.

Undermining Mongolia

Leaked documents expose how mining companies Rio Tinto and Turquoise Hill Resources, alongside the US embassy, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank manoeuvred the Mongolian government into offering generous corporate incentives that have left the country with debt, environmental damage and a loss of democratic control over their natural resources.

“Just as the economy was beginning to stabilise and grow, the World Bank decided to push the Mongolian economy towards growth based on mineral extraction. This made Mongolia fully dependent on a single industry and a single market” says Sukhgerel Dugersuren Executive Director of OTWatch, a Mongolian non-profit organisation.

Members of parliament and civil society organizations have questioned the Oyu Tolgoi Investment Agreement since negotiations began in 2003. In November 2019, the Mongolian Parliament unanimously passed a resolution instructing the Mongolian Government to review and take measures to ensure that all the agreements relating to the Oyu Tolgoi Project should comply with the country’s legislation for the benefit of the Mongolian people.

The new report ‘Undermining Mongolia’ analyses how the choreography of political, corporate and financial actors around a mining agreement have shaped Mongolia’s politics and legislation. SOMO and OTWatch argue that this is not a unique case but it reflects the development trajectory of mineral rich countries, which are often hijacked by the corporate interests of the global extractives industry.

Rhodante Ahlers of SOMO says: “Globally legitimized looting by multinationals must stop. ‘Good governance’ and ‘rule of law’ need to be stripped from corporate interest and profit seeking and redefined towards a healthy planet for the benefit of all.”

Mining taxes

This report is a sequel to the 2018 report Mining taxes which revealed Rio Tinto’s tax schemes that lead to nearly $700 million in tax revenue losses for Canada and Mongolia.

Mongolia has to help solve South Korea's problem, but it has to ask China on how to be shipped out

As China's controls on gallium and germanium come into effect, the United States is preparing to extract the waste, and South Korea, a semiconductor power, is worried about turmoil in the semiconductor market. Under such circumstances, Mongolia started its journey on a visit to the United States, trying to help the United States and South Korea solve their big problems, but without China's nod, nothing is out of the question.

China shakes South Korea semiconductor, Mongolia decided to move

Against the backdrop of the escalating resource war between China and the United States, Mongolian Prime Minister Oyun Erden visited the United States, and the two sides focused on how to better develop rare earths and other key fields. In addition, the two sides will also deepen their cooperation in food security, space cooperation and the climate crisis, and further expand the strategic partnership between the two countries.

In order to facilitate transport, the two sides also signed an agreement to open direct flights next year. US Vice President Harris was very happy and praised Mongolia as a reliable democracy and friend of the United States in the Indo-Pacific region. For this visit, the two sides had been discussing cooperation on rare earth and minerals two months ago and signed a memorandum of understanding, this time mainly to discuss how to implement it.

At the same time, the United States also brought its Allies, inviting South Korea to join the Korea, America and Mongolia Key Mineral Mechanism, aiming to stabilize the global key mineral supply chain and support cooperation among the three countries in the mining of lithium, rare earth and coal. This is also an important step for the United States to seek and build a new rare earth supply chain beyond its dependence on China.

Mongolia, on the other hand, has helped South Korea a lot. As a Korean country, South Korea has little rare earth resources of its own and needs to import from foreign countries. With the development of new energy vehicles and mobile phones, South Korea's demand for lithium is increasing, while the supply of lithium is relatively limited. Therefore, South Korea attaches great importance to lithium reserves, setting up a special rare metal reserve base and set reserve targets.

However, due to major environmental trends such as new energy vehicles and solar power generation, as well as controls or restrictions on the export of rare metals in some countries, the market for lithium has gone up again, leaving Korea's lithium reserves far below its target. According to public data, South Korea's current lithium capacity is only 5.8 days, far below the 100-day target, meaning that South Korean companies will face huge risks and losses if supply cuts or soaring prices occur.

Before that, China was South Korea's largest source of lithium imports, accounting for nearly 80 percent of its total total. China's lithium exports to South Korea are mainly lithium hydroxide, which is used to make products such as lithium-ion batteries. In addition, many rare metals are imported from China. So after China's controls on gallium and germanium took effect, South Korean media immediately worried that it would shake South Korea's semiconductor industry. Now with Mongolia as an option, South Korea will be more comfortable with a shortage of key resources.

How to transport the rare earth, we have to ask China your opinion

Although Han's idea is good, an important prerequisite is the geographical location of Mongolia. Because Mongolia is a landlocked country, caught up between China and Russia.

The family with a mine can't survive it

At its most extreme, the government's accumulated debt accounts for 74% of GDP, not counting the tighter external debt and private debt. They had no choice but to call on the whole country for donations, gold and jewelry and horses to meet their urgent needs.

Can you imagine it? Our domestic arrested corrupt officials, make the neighboring Mongolian people have taken to the streets to protest.

A few days ago, a group of shirtless strong men appeared in ulananbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. It was the big winter, and the lowest temperature in the area could casually reach dozens of degrees below zero, but they still sat on the ground against the cold wind.

This is certainly not a modern version of performance art, but a serious protest against the corruption of someone in the government.

What exactly is it about it?

In fact, it is the chain reaction of our anti-corruption and rectification of the official administration.

In recent years, big tigers have fought a lot, but the Inner Mongolia coal industry 20 years of action or can definitely occupy a place in the history of anti-corruption, the long time, strength, meticulous investigation are rare in history.

Of course, the results are also very significant, found out a lot of big guys have retreated, killed a batch, sentenced a batch, saved a lot of losses.

As a result, the Mongols also found a lot of problems.

Originally, with the deepening of the investigation, we have published some investigation results, including the specific data of the coal trade between China and Mongolia. As a result, after a comparison of Mongolia, we found that the data on both sides are not right!

The public statement in Mongolia is that since 2013, a total of 6.4 million tons of coal exported to China have not been registered in the Mongolian customs, worth at least 3.5 billion yuan. The huge amount of money paid by the coal sale has naturally been separated by the powerful families.

What made the people even more angry was that the authorities allowed only the state officials to set fire and forbid the people to light the lamps.

Because just this winter, Mongolia is still investigating coal smuggling in shantytowns, forcing the poor to bear high heating costs. Originally suppressed a belly of gas, this time suddenly broke out corrupt officials by smuggling coal to enrich the news, you say everyone should think?

In fact, such "coal thieves" are just a microcosm of Mongolian social problems. If you have the opportunity to go to Ulan Bator, you will know that there is no one of the grassland scenery you imagine, but a very modern atmosphere.

In addition to the luxury cars running around the streets, there are more than 300 high-end bars, brightly lit at night, packed with rich mine owners, bosses and local officials in power.

Where did all this money come from? It's very easy. Selling the mines.

So far, Mongolia has discovered more than 80 kinds of minerals, not only coal, copper and iron, but also gold and rare earths. It is with these unique resource endowments that the local pillar industry has directly changed from animal husbandry to mining.

Boosted by a large amount of foreign investment, the local economy used to develop rapidly, with various economic indicators shining out.

GDP growth is exaggerated, 17.3% in 20112.3% in 2012,1 1.6% in 2013,

And there's little of these people to save themselves.

Want to support yourself by farming?

That's just fine. Due to the temperate continental climate, Mongolia's annual average precipitation is less than 230mm, most of which will be evaporated by the extreme climate, leaving only 3% infiltration into the soil as groundwater.

Since agriculture can't work, grazing?

But in the privatization wave after 1990, the road was also blocked.

If herders want to make money, they must first raise more livestock. But in the small-scale farming economy with private livestock, loose herdsmen have to bear the high-priced pastoral services provided by private companies, but also face increasingly fierce market competition, so they have to desperately expand the herd.

In 1990, Mongolia had about 25.9 million head of livestock; by 2018, the total number had climbed to 66.5 million.

The huge herds exceeded the carrying capacity of the grassland, leading to the deterioration of the health of the livestock. At the same time, the massive supply broke down the price of cattle and sheep, further putting the herdsmen into a vicious cycle of extreme poverty.

Generally, in this share, the rich class always have to give some blood, let some profit, and try to let the common people eat. But what did the Mongolian elite do?

It is impossible to make profits by themselves, but the answer is to take foreign investors.

First came the various brainwashing attacks:

Why are you so poor? That's all because foreigners poached our mines and stole our jobs. Although it sounded full of holes, a young man with no higher education could not figure it out, and it was easily instigated.

In short, with the help of intentionally or unintentionally, the populist sentiment among Mongolian youth is growing. Some of them shaved their heads, some tattooed, and even walked the streets under the Nazi flag.

Besides the neo-Nazis, the audience was more of the great Mongol doctrine.

Although the core is just "inheriting Genghis Khan's great work and building a bigger Mongol empire", the locals are still eating this set, which also gives the people behind the scenes a reason to attack foreign investment.

One of the more typical, is the Tabben Tolgoi coal mine (TT mine) equity competition.

TT mine is located in the south of Mongolia, with proven reserves of about 1.5 billion tons and estimated reserves of more than 6.4 billion tons. It is the largest coal mine in Mongolia and one of the largest open pit coke coal mines that have not been fully developed in the world, with excellent quality.

In July 2011, Mongolia held a tender for the TT mine, when an agreement was reached between Shenhua and Japan Mitsui 40 percent, Mongolia and Russian consortium 36 percent and U. S. energy giant Peabody Energy 24 percent.

South Korea, but those from Japan, were excluded, and many Mongols refused, and they backed out.

The new tender began in 2014, but in the final stages of the deal, the Mongolian parliament claimed that the deal was illegal, and the deal was stalled again.

This makes Shenhua feel very helpless, before this, they even spent small 20 billion to build two railways, but toss to toss to the transaction can not complete, dare this is your investment and infrastructure ah.

In addition, the Mongolian government later recovered more than 400 non-state-owned mines.

Mining is "draining" out of Mongolia

In his article, Lucy Woods noted that Mongolia's mineral resources development boom is draining its precious water source.

One-fifth of the Mongolian land has been labeled as mining areas. Investors were ecstatic, gave the world's second-largest landlocked country a new nickname —— "Mine Valley."

In just 10 years, mining has doubled the share of the Mongolian economy. Copper, gold, uranium, silver and coal account for 20-30% of the country's GDP and 89% of total annual exports.

Oyu Tolgoi is already one of the largest mines in the world. With commodity prices low, it is likely to expand against the market in the coming years, with an increasing impact on Mongolia's economy and ecology.

The IMF forecasts that Oyu Tolgoi will account for a third of Mongolia's GDP by 2021, and mining will accounts for more than half of the country's economy.

But the Gobi Desert is not only rich, but is also home to many endangered plants and animals.

"The world is in danger of the permanent extinction of these precious species."Said Claudo Oguliaro and Joicon Jachiramdan, directors of nonprofit environmental group Action Green, when asked about the impact of ongoing mining in these desert habitats.

Mining makes water "overexploited", and it disappears even in the rocky areas (once a paradise for thirsty animals).

The Mongolian wild donkey is one of the endangered species. To find water, wild donkeys dug 60 cm deep holes in the cracked banks of a dry river, according to Green Action.

Other endangered animals are native to the Gobi desert, including: black-tailed antelope, plate sheep, highland goats, yellow sheep, sand foxes, vultures, prairie eagles and grey wolves.

Although mining companies claim to use separate deep underground salt water known as "petrowater," many companies do not do so, said Thomas Erikson, due to the need for deep drilling and huge investment. Instead of using oil and water, mines are polluting and draining the water resources that people and animals rely on.

According to a 2010 World Bank study, groundwater in southern Gobi Province is only enough for the next 10 years or so, and mining activities in the underground aquifer have had a real impact on livestock in the area.

Despite the drought and other ecological threats from mining, many countries are still scrambling to follow Britain, Canada, Russia and China into Mongolia's mining boom.

In 2011, Germany signed a coal agreement with Mongolia. Last year, Mongolia signed free trade agreements with Japan and South Korea.

Mongolia's heavy reliance on foreign investment makes it difficult for it to reject cooperative initiatives from foreign mining groups, especially from China. Mongolia relies on the Chinese market for about 89% of its mineral exports.

Eriksson said: " Few countries in the world are so heavily affected by Chinese trade, foreign investment and global commodity prices as Mongolia, because Mongolia does not yet put its sovereign wealth on the shelf for environmental protection or health.”

Mongolia is being affected by China's economic slowdown and has responded with emergency fiscal austerity measures.

"The country is in deep trouble."Su Rong, executive director of the NGO Oyu Tolgoi Watch, expressed her concern.

Erickson said: " Many Mongols would say that they don't see much benefit from mining."Most of the country still lacks infrastructure like tap water, drainage, hospitals and roads.

However, according to the World Bank, Mongolia's economy is likely to grow high, while poverty may fall.

In order to attract foreign investment in the mining industry and hope that multinational companies can build urgently needed infrastructure, the Mongolian government enacted the Land Distribution Law (introduced in 2003 and revised in 2005 / 08). It stipulates that if mining companies offer compensation for the migrants and the herdsmen refuse, the latter will lose all land rights.

The law has been proved to be disputed. In response, the Asian Development Bank established separate rules for its projects and noted that existing laws were "incomplete and inaccurate to adequately protect the rights of those affected".

Herders were forced to move to dry land without guaranteed livelihood, having to abandon up nomadic life, sell their livestock and move to the city in search of work.

One of the jobs they could find was to clear the roads of Oyu Tolgoi, Duger Sourong said:

"People think this life is meaningless. You are a shepherd, you are a proud person, this is your way of life. You have a very complete plan for the future... but lose it soon. The mining company has given you the job of collecting people's garbage.”

Desperate, unemployed herders have also moved to another area, just above the maligned Nilak coal mine.

The Nicola Coal mine is located in the suburb of Ulaanbaatar and is the earliest coal mine in Mongolia. The mine closed in 1990, when the Mongolian reforms began, and is now filled with rotten animal corpses, mountains of discarded plastic and rusty pieces of metal. This is because the government has turned the "black gold" site into a garbage dump in order to prevent illegal coal mining. But the unstoppable, unlicensed coal mining groups are still working in abandoned mines.

However, there are neither safety standards nor air detectors, and coal mines often collapse. A local person, who asked not to be named, said: " People have lost their livestock, but they have no experience in mining coal. They went down until their legs were too soft to walk. The herdsmen knew nothing about gas and were killed."According to some locals, at least 10 people at the mine.

A 2014 paper in the Journal of Environmental Management notes that to "offset" people's forced migration and ecological destruction.

There are 19,000 prostitutes in Mongolia, and Koreans are important customers, changing a woman every day for a week

In 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mongolia quickly began to quickly become a capitalist state and embrace Western culture. After years of efforts, Mongolia has become one of the most thoroughly westernized countries in Asia, one of which is the rich nightlife of the Mongols. The capital, Ulan Bator, is the most representative in this area of just over 4,000 square kilometers, but nearly half of Mongolia's population live, and most of them are young people who like to stimulate life. In Ulaanbaatar, there are more than 300 bars, Kara OK and other entertainment venues, and when the lights are on, these places become the stage for young people.

And the Mongolian colorful nightlife set off, is the country's custom industry. Mongolia does not recognize the legal status of prostitutes, but because the custom industry is not so strict, it is prevalent in many parts of Mongolia. Mongolia is obviously a country with a few people. On a land of more than 1.5 million square kilometers, it has only 3.2 million people. With a low population density, it is among the top in the world. In sharp contrast to the sparse population, the number of sex workers in Mongolia is 19,000, a forecast in the early 21st century, and even more today in the country's custom industry.

In Ulaanbaatar, sex workers have a long history. Originally, they were mainly active in the park opposite the Ulaanbaatar Hotel, which is located in the center of the city and often foreigners, and they become the main source of tourists for sex workers. However, sex workers are often punished because of the huge target in Ulaanbaatar Park, so they turn from light to dark, relying on Kara OK, hotels, saunas and other places. As a result, the difficulty of managing them has increased significantly.

One big reason for Mongolia's large-scale sex workers is the explosion of the country's mining industry. Mongolia has mineral resources admired by many countries in the world, with more than 80 proven valuations of more than one trillion dollars. Mongolia regards mineral resources as the lifeblood of the country and has developed them vigorously, with more than 800 mining areas and more than 8,000 mining sites. Mining on this scale has also spawned a large number of mobile mining workers far away from home. Like the boom in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and Hamburg, Germany, with sex workers, Mongolia's custom industry has prospered because of the mining boom.

Mongolian sex workers are mainly local people, and the biggest reason they enter the custom industry is poverty. As a landlocked country, the mining industry in Mongolia only makes some people rich, while most people live based on extensive animal husbandry and agriculture. This kind of industry that depends on the weather can only barely maintain food and clothing, which also makes some women forced to become sex workers. Of course, there were some women who were cheated and forced in. In recent years, trafficking in Mongolia is rampant, with many women trafficked in home to sex workers, but also to Malaysia, Israel, Turkey, Switzerland, Hungary and ex

Of course, even in the face of such a situation, the Mongolian custom industry is still in the ascendant, sex workers are forced to abandon this relatively easy career, those who like to seek stimulation, holding luck and curiosity, are not afraid of the rumors of disease. However, the problem is still there, and how to solve it, for Mongolia, it is really a big problem.

In Ulan Bator, with of sheep, the woman was drinking in a broken used car, her left hand around her LV

Russia best drinks vodka in Ulaanbaatar. They were shirtless, each with a bottle, dry drink, nothing. The woman is: not attractive, but of great size; give her anything. The owner of the Idre's Guest House bar said, " I never receive foreigners because you can't tell who is a businessman and who is a traveler.”

It was a moonless night, and the sound of sad matcame. If you have the opportunity to stand on the top of the Bogda mountain, you will experience some uneasiness of the Mongols.

It is the rainy season and the road is almost flooded with rain. Someone placed some abandoned bricks on the water, a young white-collar suit with a briefcase, kept jumping on it.

Yes, the local newspapers are saying that it wants to be the next Dubai.

If you hadn't caught a glimpse of a small mud on the trousers of a herdsman opposite, you would really think that this is the center of the world and the essence of the yuan.

In a country of just 2.8 million people, more than half of the people have flocked here. Over the past decade, it has suddenly become Shanghai in the 1930s and California during the gold rush. So in the city edge of the relaxed terrain, surrounded by different shapes of yurts and low simple houses. The yurts are all white, and the roof of the simple house is always red or green.

These buildings can only be seen from a distance, like the slums on Damascus Mountain, shining with the glory of the western villas, approached but terrible to see, the soot burning out in the cold. The line of sight from the yurt to the hillside is a white spot, naturally reminiscent of the sheep. But they have been so motionless, and they were all the graves and tombstones of the dead. They grow like weeds, disorderly, showing their life to death.

Almost any time when you walk on no matter how narrow the road, always behind the car, you want to let it pass, but there is a string behind it. You walk, the front of the car exhaust smoke you, the horn behind the car urge you.

Although the traffic rule is to drive on the right, the vehicle should be on the left side. But there were also some right drivers running happily on the road. The driver driving side by side sat left and right, like two generals.

This scene is only seen in Afghanistan on the news channel.

Because of the terrain, the urban layout of Ulan Bbaatar is short from north to south, long and narrow from east to west. There are only three main roads across the city, and the road surface is narrow and the road condition is very poor. If you drive at more than 70 kilometers per hour, small ramps and bumps can make traffic turn into flying cars, or a wheel is swallowed by an uncovered hole in the road.

Whether new cars or more than 20 years ago "classic cars" are popular models. Many styles are never seen by foreigners, and are probably saved by locals themselves. Mongolia has no cars, but imported bikes are tariff-free, so they are quite cheap, with a new BMW 3 Series priced at $25,000. Used cars are even cheaper, one

In fact because of young people in emotional and sexual life generally more chaotic, so you will find you put to Mongolia sister usually have a boyfriend, you know that even the girl cheat you said she is single, eventually all this is a fact, after all, you did somebody else tough Mongolian man is absolutely never let you this helpless foreigner, more also specifically for foreigners to use their relatives and friends to blackmail.

Usually Mongolian girls are unscrupulous, for example, I have a Inner Mongolia friend because his cannon friend every time and his OOXX needle with a small hole in the middle of the condom, naturally a few times down she became pregnant. When her boyfriend appears in front of you and puts his hand into the coat inside pocket, don't hesitate to run —— in Mongolia as long as a simple registration in the police station, the gun is legal.

By the way, the local prostitutes in Ulaanbaatar are super cheap, but you will be caught by the police, and soon your turn will be done.

In Ulaanbaatar, the air seems to be full of alcohol evaporation, but the ads you see is either Coca-Cola or CHANEL perfume, and people don't need your call to pick up the glass.

The shanty towns on the mountain are bounded by wooden fences, and people selling horse's milk are delimited with gravel. On the way back from West ault, bowls of horse's milk stood on a roadside stall. The thirsty shepherd shook by and drank a bowl. In the past, herdsmen often used horse's milk to make horse's milk wine. Zhang Chengzhi had a wonderful description: in the morning, ji hung a bag of horse's milk to him on the back of the camel, to accelerate the fermentation of horse's milk, the horse's milk in the skin began to emit a strong taste at noon, the longer the time, the stronger the taste of wine was. Walking in the open prairie sun, maybe you will drink horse's milk in the morning and alcoholic drinks in the afternoon.

It says an alcoholic drink, but I suspect it's white wine

There are basically two kinds of baijiu in Ulaanbaatar: Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan, both like vodka, are mixed wine, a strange taste, but it feels good. The Mongolian liquor secret recipe is said to be the same as the Russian vodka, and both were finally determined by the chemist Mendeleev after N experiments, with the least impact on human health. Genghis Khan is a little more expensive than Kublai Khan, but it is no more than 10 yuan.

In Mongolia, you can encounter an empty wine bottle anywhere you can imagine. It can be Suharto Square, in front of the Mani pile, or a five-star hotel. I often see three or two people drinking in the big row. They were shirtless, each carrying a bottle, dry drink, what food is nothing.

At noon, it is easy to see someone lying by the roadside, confused, dressed drunk, or occasionally passing a rickety passer-by, and no longer shaking, but lying quietly on the ground, and then seeing a stray dog excitedly licking the drunken vomit. But I've never seen a drunk dog.

Mongolia is one of the most alcoholic countries in the world,

I met an overseas Chinese sister on the train from Erlianlian to Ulan Bato. According to her, her father was brought to Mongolia during World War II. The reason why the word was that the Soviet and Mongolian allied forces at that time needed technicians, such as tailors, carpenters, repairmen, etc., who had no choice to go, and his father was a tailor.

Wayan saw that she ate very much. When she was telling us stories, she also talked with the Mongolian conductor for a long time."I'm speaking the standard Ulan Bars," "Some of them with accents," she said, proudly, referring to the conductor outside.

Most of the streets of Mongolia are Mongolian in the Russian letters, and only a few historic sites can find the ancient Mongolian. Most people can no longer write the ancient vertical Mongolian language. In other words, the Mongolian people and Inner Mongolia can communicate with each other in Mongolian, but they can not understand the Mongolian language written by each other.

Of course, if you can't whisper, the best warning is to stay away from the street drunk.

On the streets of Ulaanbaatar, you will find hardly a car without scratches, and they drive as if they were in Nadam. In the night of Ulan Bator, it is not an individual phenomenon to provoke the other side, but the inevitable result of going to the bar at night. During the day, the bar was mostly well-dressed, fashionable young people, dressed in suits and shoes, very elegant and polite. In the evening, when they drink, the consequences are daunting and terrifying. In the most fashionable METRO POLIS, I have seen the Mongols provoke Europeans and Americans.

There is no death penalty here unless Mongolian citizens are treason. Yes, even if you have gang-raped dozens of minors, you will only be sentenced to 20 years at most, which is online in Mongolia. And that's not the most ironic thing, because you simply can't live for 20 years in their prison.

The Mongolian is such a group of yellow people, he will subvert all your impression of the yellow people, they are the least like the yellow people —— It is said that Stalin said this shortly after slapping him in the Mongolian Prime Minister GENDEN.

Uuganaa, 24, proudly displays his homemade Buddhist tattoos and the scars of his childhood, which he says is a symbol of bravery.

The government Square in Ulaanbaatar is still sunny, but without the warmth of yesterday, where you can feel the majesty and solemnity of this former socialist country. Stage and yurts began in the square, demonstration people living in yurts, playing pop music, continued to protest... very harmonious, calm, no violence and radical, no police or army to maintain order, as if the government didn't care much.

Herders passed by Hummers at red lights; modern women in high heels, miniskirt and LV bags walked the streets in Mongolian robes... the images was like a montage of modern life and nomadic times.

In Ulaanbaatar, more buildings should have been abandoned. Accompanied by the surrounding dead trees, weeds and messy metal guardrail, even standing in front of the entrance of the building.

Mongolian sex workers are getting younger and are in a bad condition

From the Ulaanbaatar Post: According to the 2008 National Gender Assessment Report (Country Gender Assessment-2008) compiled by the Asian Development Bank of Mongolia, the National Bureau of Statistics and the National Committee on Gender Equality, the age of sex workers in Mongolia has been greatly reduced. The report also says that while Mongolian laws take care of those who are sexually abused, they do not punish those who illegally provide sexual services very strongly enough.

Under the relevant law, any income earned by sex workers through prostitution is confiscated, and it is also subject to 14 to 30 days of imprisonment and other penalties, the researchers' report said. This law subjectively gives the police justifiable reasons to frequently search prostitution places and arrest sex workers, forcing them to suffer humane and inhumane treatment (subject them to humiliating and dehumanizing treatment).

Under arrests and high fines, they were forced to provide sexual services and monetary bribes. Since similar searches are often accompanied by TV reporters, they have had many negative effects on sex workers. Sex workers abandon themselves, plus some criminal organizations, legal discrimination and negative media coverage and misleading, thus formed in the public mind they are a "dirty and ignore the law group" impression, these reasons deprived of sex workers basic human rights, also make the country missed the opportunity to give their human rights protection.

The researchers found that these massage parlors (massage parlors) generally employ two to four massage women (masseuses), and about 70 percent of the 178 massage parlors and sauna hospitals surveyed provided sexual services (sexual services). The initial number of sex workers engaged in prostitution (engaging in prostitution) in massage and sauna hospitals in Ulan Bbaatar alone is 375, with an average of three people engaged in prostitution in each place. This figure is in line with the rapidly growing assessment of sex services in 2006, with more than 400 sex workers in six districts of the city.

The survey was based on interviews with 38 employees of 25 sauna and massage parlors opened in Ulan Bator, and the researchers found that 80 percent of services offering so-called special services or services not listed on the service list, were paid 20,000 turiks per hour or per time. The set prices are negotiable, and in turn, customers can offer higher service standards to the saunas and massage parlors.

Researchers at Sasim (The Tsakhim Urtuu) know that the average age of the girls in sauna and massage parlors is 18-25. Of the 234 people surveyed in Ulanbaatar, 10% were from Darkhan and Erden.

As for why these women engage in prostitution, a quick assessment showed that 42 percent wanted to support their own families (maintain their families), 44 percent needed money, and 11 percent said they wanted to earn tuition (earn their tuition). According to the survey respondents, 64.3 percent of people engaged in prostitution because of unemployment, and another important reason was poverty, accounting for 16.6 percent. Most of the people surveyed in 2005 said they worked to make money, the 18 to 24 girls were forced to support their family (8.8-15.4 percent), and 11.8 to 15.4 percent of the same age group said they did it as a serious profession.

The data also clearly show that poverty, unemployment and low pay (poverty, unemployment and low wages) are more common among young women. If so, their only possible option is for prostitution.

Because of the low education level, prostitution in Mongolia occurs only for women who do not enjoy more educational opportunities.

It is clear that the privatization of high-level education and the spread of high college tuition fees (the privatization of higher education and the proliferation of high tuitions for colleges) have put great pressure on young women, who are forced to engage in prostitution in order to afford their tuition fees. Gender and Mining Research (The gender and mining study) also specifically mentions the risk of sexual assault and physical violence (risks of sexual and physical violence) that female students who come to some mines during the summer vacation face to earn their tuition.

The women who came to apply for jobs in the mine came from different ages and from different places, and were engaged in very different jobs. Surveys by agencies such as the Gender Equality Commission show that the women earn 20,000 Tugrek a day. Women who work in hotels earn 2.5 times more money than those who work in the streets or elsewhere. Young women are 25,000 a day, 20,000 for 19 to 21,000, and the older 22 to 25 are 16,000. Young girls may earn higher incomes because they work harder or pay a higher price. Respondents in the quick assessment said the price of a sex service ranged from 40,000 vodka, from 8,000 to 10,000 per hour per woman, or 25,000 to 30,000 tugelic per night.

The Sasim Urtu report says the average sex workers on the street charge 5,000-10,000 per hour, or 2 per night. The threat of sex workers is not limited to clients. They also face high risks, such as the spread of STDs such as syphilis and AIDS, which are at high risk, and sex workers do not know much about these STDs. They will not be able to obtain effective medical protection or insist that clients use condoms. A 1998 case report reported that a prostitute was beaten when she asked her guest to use a condom. Also, every report shows that prostitutes have experienced mental illness problems, many of whom are depressed, depressed, unable to extricate themselves, drinking heavily, and taking drugs. Many of them blame themselves for prostitution, and other studies also mention the autism, isolation and degeneration of prostitutes (Other studies record shame, isolation and depression experienced by sex workers).

Some studies also mention the confusion in the current legal and regulatory framework (the current legal and regulatory framework) that has led to the current collectivization, hidden spread of prostitution and women's rights (the increasing institutionalization, hidden expansion of prostitution and violations of women's rights) One of the main causes of constant assault. The Anti-Prostitution and Pornography Act (Law on Combating Prostitution and Pornography) enacted in 1998 on the provision of pornographic services and soliciting customers, organizing prostitution, luring, recruiting and forcing others to enter into pornographic places, and providing venues for pornographic activities have opened the door for pornographic activities.

But in practice, the police focus on sex workers, especially those who are most vulnerable to detection, standing on the streets and on vulnerable prostitutes in low-end hotels and sauna houses. The report said 59.2 percent of the prostitutes standing on the street had been fined, and 40.8 percent of them said they hid their identities and refused to register with the police. Sex workers are considered criminals by society, while men who pay for spring (buy sexual services) are not punished by the law.

There is ample evidence that sex workers are, in addition to the violence of human and snake groups, highly vulnerable to physical and sexual violence, robbery, murder, and more. Therefore, the most important thing for them is to seek the protection of the police, and the police actually face great risks and work burdens. But 72 percent of sex workers say they will not seek police protection if they are forced to prostitution or share their income. Police asked prostitutes to pay 5,000 bail each. He once worked as a prostitute and now works for her.

70% of Mongolia’s land has been desertified, a large number of herders have gone bankrupt and are living in the capital, and sandstorms are affecting China

In recent years, as the impact of global climate change has become more obvious, countries have also been troubled by environmental problems. Among them, desertification is particularly serious. Mongolia, as a country with animal husbandry as its main economic source, is also facing severe desertification. question.

According to statistics, 70% of Mongolia's land is currently facing the threat of desertification. This not only causes a large number of herders to leave their homes and migrate to the capital Ulaanbaatar, but also brings huge challenges to Mongolia's ecological and environmental protection work. challenge.

Since Mongolia's environmental problems do not exist in isolation, its environmental problems have also had a certain impact on neighboring countries. How to solve Mongolia's desertification problem has also become the focus of attention of the international community.

Mongolia faces an unprecedented desertification crisis

Since the 1990s, Mongolia's desertification problem has gradually become prominent, and with the impact of global climate warming, Mongolia's desertification problem has become more and more serious.

According to monitoring data from the Mongolian environment department, 70% of Mongolia's land has been affected by desertification, and 2,000 square kilometers of land continue to become desert every year.

Environmental problems seriously affect the lives of herders Mongolia's economic development mainly relies on animal husbandry, and the emergence of desertification problems has directly affected the ecological environment of Mongolia's grasslands, leading to grassland degradation and a shortage of livestock and grain resources. Herders have to leave their homes and move to cities such as the capital Ulaanbaatar. Migration has also brought certain pressure to Mongolian cities, and the death of a large number of livestock has also had a certain impact on local animal husbandry production.

Environmental problems affect neighboring countries Mongolia's environmental problems do not exist in isolation. Its environmental problems have also had a certain impact on neighboring countries.

For example, the desertification problem in Mongolia will also lead to the frequent occurrence of sand and dust storms. Once these sand and dust storms occur, they will have a certain impact on the production and life of large Eastern countries and Russia and other countries. Mongolia’s environmental problems also require the international community to common concerns and responses.

Conclusion: Environmental issues are a common challenge facing the world, and all countries need to jointly deal with it. Mongolia’s desertification problem also requires the common attention and help of the international community. Mongolia also needs to realize that controlling desertification is a long-term process that requires the efforts of all parties. Only with long-term patience and continuous investment can we finally fundamentally solve the desertification problem and achieve a win-win situation between economic development and environmental protection.

"Disappearing" Mongolia: 76% of the land is desertified, and there is only one highway in the country

In April this year, strong winds and yellow sand swept across North China, causing great travel difficulties for local residents.

It is reported that this extreme sandstorm weather started from Outer Mongolia, passed through China, and even spread to Japan and South Korea, and its impact was very widespread.

However, this is not the first time extreme weather has occurred in Mongolia.

On April 11, the Inner Mongolia Forest Fire Corps revealed that the forest fire that broke out in Mongolia on April 8 was finally extinguished after three days and nights of fighting, interception, and staged control.

It is reported that similar severe weather occurs in Mongolia at this time of year, and land desertification has become the number one problem plaguing Mongolia.

When it comes to Mongolia, which has a deep relationship with us, the problem of land desertification cannot be avoided.

In fact, once upon a time, this problem also troubled an entire generation of people in China.

However, thanks to our unremitting efforts, everything has changed: so far, the area of desertified land in China has decreased by 1,980 square kilometers every year, which is close to the area of Shenzhen.

Not only that, China’s 4.069 million square kilometers of Three-North Shelter Forest protects the green waters and green mountains of North China. China’s achievements in environmental protection make people give a thumbs up.

There is no harm without comparison. Outer Mongolia, which borders us, is deeply troubled by desertification.

However, behind the prosperity, there is also a serious problem of wealth gap in Mongolia.

Most of Mongolia's territories are faced with the problem of "no land for grazing" and "no land for farming." After nearly a hundred years of disorderly and overgrazing, large areas of grassland have become deserts.

The herdsmen who lost their pastures became "refugees" with no source of income and flocked to Ulaanbaatar.

More than 40% of Mongolian herders live in poverty and are burdened with high bank loans.

However, what is incomprehensible is that the interest rate of the Bank of Mongolia is as high as 20%. Such compound interest rates crush the backbone of the people at the bottom, and most of the wealth is only in the hands of a few people.

In order to avoid similar problems from happening again, the Mongolian government needs to adopt a more responsible development approach to ensure a balance between economic development and environmental protection, so as to achieve the goal of sustainable development.

In addition, the whole society needs to strengthen environmental awareness, actively respond to environmental protection actions, and protect Mongolia’s natural environment.

In the past, Mongolia had a good start. Its long culture and reliable strong neighbors provided good guarantees for its development.

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