Human trafficking in Myanmar

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Human trafficking is a major and complex societal issue in Myanmar, which is both a source and destination for human trafficking. Both major forms of human trafficking, namely forced labor and forced prostitution, are common in the country, affecting men, women, and children. Myanmar's systemic political and economic problems have made the Burmese people particularly vulnerable to trafficking. [1] Men, women, and children who migrate abroad to Thailand, Malaysia, China, Bangladesh, India, and South Korea for work are often trafficked into conditions of forced or bonded labor or commercial sexual exploitation. Economic conditions within Myanmar have led to the increased legal and illegal migration of citizens regionally and internationally, often to destinations as far from Myanmar as the Middle East. The border regions of Myanmar, including Shwe Kokko, are known human trafficking destinations. [2]

Contents

As of July 2023, Myanmar remained on the lowest tier (Tier 3) of countries in the Trafficking in Persons Report. [3] [4]

Myanmar ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in March 2004. [5]

In 2023, the Organised Crime Index gave Myanmar a score of 8.5 out of 10 for human trafficking, noting that Rohingya people in Rakhine were heavily targeted by traffickers. [6]

Types of trafficking

Labour trafficking

Men are subjected to forced labour in the fishing [7] and construction industries abroad. The military's widespread use of and lack of accountability in forced labour and recruitment of child soldiers was the top causal factor for Myanmar's significant trafficking problem in 2009. [1] Most notably in the area of forced labour, the Government of Myanmar is not complying with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.

Forced to commit fraud

Myanmar is an emerging destination for international labour trafficking, especially along its border areas. [8] Victims include nationals from throughout Asia, including China, [9] Hong Kong, [9] Malaysia, [9] Taiwan, [10] Thailand, [11] India, [12] the Philippines. [13] Victims are lured by the false promise of high-paying jobs, and are trafficked through major cities like Yangon and Bangkok, and transit points like Mae Sot, Chiang Rai. [8] They are then forced to work in industrial-scale fraud factories located in "special economic zones" along the country's borders such as Shwe Kokko. [8]

In 2023, the UN estimated that 120,000 people were trafficked into the country to work in scam call-centres; in March 2024, more 43,000 such workers were handed over to the Chinese government. [14] The Ugandan government also repatriated 23 citizens. [15]

Another investigation in 2024 found that up to 3,000 people had been trafficked into border areas to work in casinos; nationalities included Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Cambodian and Ethiopian. [16]

Sex trafficking

Women of Myanmar who migrate to Thailand, China, and Malaysia for economic opportunities are coerced into prostitution. Some trafficking victims transit through Myanmar from Bangladesh to Malaysia and from China to Thailand and beyond.

Exploiters traffic girls for the purpose of prostitution, and ‘birth trafficking’, particularly for Chinese families. [17] [18] A 2018 study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Kachin Women's Association Thailand (KWAT) found that thousands of women and girls were trafficked from Myanmar to China to be forced into marriage and childbirth. [19] [20]

Furthermore, due to the vast number of people living below the national poverty line, many women are forced into illegal prostitution. In some areas, in particular international sex trafficking of women and girls, the Government of Myanmar is making significant efforts.

Child soldiers

The military of Myanmar engages in the unlawful conscription of child soldiers, and continues to be the main perpetrator of forced labor inside Myanmar. Since independence from Britain in 1948, Myanmar's political situation has been unstable and involved in civil conflicts, which has led to an increase in the recruitment of underage soldiers. In 2002, Human Rights Watch reported in "My Gun was as Tall as Me: Child Soldiers in Burma" that Myanmar was the world's largest recruiter of child soldiers. Not only political instability, but also the country's poverty favour the recruitment of children. [21] [22]

The direct government and military use of forced or mandatory labor remains a widespread and pressing issue, particularly targeting members of ethnic minority groups, such as the Shan people. Military and civilian officials systematically used men, women, and children for forced labor for the development of infrastructure and state-run agricultural and commercial ventures, as well as forced portering for the military. Those living in areas with the highest military presence, including remote border areas predominated by ethnic groups, are most at risk for forced labor. [1] Military and civilian officials subject men, women, and children to forced labor. Men and thousands of boys as young as 10 years old are forcibly recruited (due often to desertions) to serve in the National Army and ethnic armed groups through intimidation, coercion, threats, and violence. Children of the urban poor are at particular risk of involuntary conscription; UN reports indicate that the army has targeted orphans and children on the streets and in railway stations, and young novice monks from monasteries for recruitment. Children are slapped with jail if they do not agree to join the army, and are sometimes physically abused. Children are subjected to forced labor in tea shops, home industries, and agricultural plantations.

In December 2009, the military of Myanmar reported that it dismissed a captain from the military via court martial and sentenced him to one year of imprisonment in a civilian jail for child soldier recruitment - the first ever criminal conviction of a military official involved in child soldier recruitment. In the same case, an additional two privates were sentenced to three months' and one-month military imprisonment, respectively. Myanmar law enforcement officials generally were not able to investigate or prosecute cases of military-perpetrated forced labor or child soldier recruitment absent assent from high-ranking military officers. [1] The government also reported investigating, prosecuting, and convicting some internal trafficking offenders, though there was only one reported criminal prosecution of a member of the National Army for his role in child soldier cases. The government continued to incarcerate six individuals who reported forced labor cases involving the regime to the International Labour Organization (ILO) or were otherwise active in working with the ILO on forced labor issues. [1]

In 2022, it was noted that government forces were still using soldiers. [4]

The Government of Myanmar reported some progress in law enforcement efforts against cross-border sex trafficking during 2009. Myanmar prohibits sex and labor trafficking through its 2005 Anti-Trafficking in Persons Law, which prescribes criminal penalties that are sufficiently stringent, deterrent and condign with those prescribed for rape. The recruitment of children into the army is a criminal offence under the Myanmar Penal Code Section 374, which could culminate in imprisonment for up to a year, or a fine, or both. [1]

Protection (2009)

The regime did attempt to protect repatriated victims of cross-border sex trafficking to China and Thailand, though it exhibited no discernible efforts to protect victims of internal trafficking and transnational labor trafficking.

In forced labor cases, some victims, notably 17 individuals in Magwe Division, were harassed, detained, or otherwise penalised for making accusations against officials who then pressed them into forced labour.

The government reportedly identified 302 victims, most of whom were victims of forced marriage rather than explicitly trafficking victims, and reportedly assisted an additional 425 victims identified and repatriated by foreign governments in 2009, including 293 from China and 132 from Thailand.

The regime did not identify any male trafficking victims. Victims were sheltered and detained in non-specialised Department of Social Welfare facilities for a mandatory minimum of two weeks, some of which even lingered for months given authorities could not find an adult family member to take the victim home.

While in government facilities, victims had access to counseling, though it was often substandard, but had fettered access to social workers. There were no shelter facilities available to male victims of trafficking.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were sometimes allowed access to victims in government shelters, but the regime continued to bar NGOs from operating shelters for trafficking victims.

The regime did not have in place formal victim identification procedures. While the government reported that it did encourage victims to assist in investigations and prosecutions, it did not appear to provide financial support or other assistance to victims as incentives to partake in the prosecution of their traffickers.

The regime liaised with the ILO (International Labour Organisation) on the issue of the military's conscription of children, contributing to the return of 31 children to their families.

In 2009, some children remained serving in the Myanmar Army and in ethnic militias. The government appeared unmoved by the predicament, and had hardly assessed the scope of the problem. The regime did not permit UNICEF access to children who were released through the government's mechanisms for follow-up purposes. Additionally, some child recruits were prosecuted and sentenced for deserting the military and were placed in prison. [1]

Prevention (2009)

Myanmar made only tepid efforts to forestall international human trafficking over the past year, and made few discernible efforts to prevent the more prevalent internal trafficking, particularly forced labour and child conscription by regime officials and ethnic armed groups. The government spearheaded awareness campaigns using billboards, flyers, and videos during the reporting period, with state-run television airing a documentary on human trafficking produced by the MTV EXIT Campaign. The Burmese government reportedly formed three new anti-trafficking units back in 2009, and reported a 40 percent overall increase in spending on prevention efforts. During the reporting period, the government signed Memoranda of Understanding with China and Thailand on trafficking in persons. The regime sustained partnerships with Mekong region governments and the UN in the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking (COMMIT), and hosted the COMMIT Senior Officials Meeting in January 2010. [1]

Corruption

The Myanmar regime reported investigating 155 cases of trafficking, prosecuting 410 individuals, and convicting 88 offenders in 2009, an increase from 342 reported prosecutions in 2008; however, these statistics included 12 cases of abduction for adoption, which are not considered “trafficking” by international standards. Additionally, court proceedings are not open and lack due process for defendants. While the Myanmar regime has in the past been known to conflate illegal migration with trafficking, leading to the punishment of consensual emigrants and those who assist them to emigrate, the police reported some efforts to exclude smuggling cases from human trafficking figures during 2009, and improved their transparency in handling cases. [1] Nevertheless, limited capacity and training of the police coupled with a lack of transparency in the justice system make it uncertain whether all trafficking statistics provided by authorities were indeed for trafficking cases.

Corruption and lack of accountability remains pervasive in Myanmar, affecting all aspects of society. [23] Police can be expected to self-limit investigations when well-connected individuals are involved in forced labor cases. Although the government reported four officials prosecuted for involvement in human trafficking in 2009, the government did not release any details of the cases.

Progress

Since the U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons began publishing the Trafficking in Persons Report in 2001, Myanmar has never advanced above the "Tier 2 Watchlist" rank. In 2017, it was upgraded to Tier 2 Watchlist. [24] In 2018 Myanmar was downgraded back to Tier 3, as the minimum standards for eliminating trafficking were never met and no efforts were made to meet them. However, in stark contrast to 2017, more traffickers have had been prosecuted and convicted and more victims identified. Also, as measures against the recruitment and use of child soldiers, more resources have been allotted to raising people's awareness of the issue. [25]

Trafficking in Persons Report rankings
YearRanking
2001Tier 3 [26]
2002Tier 3 [26]
2003Tier 3 [26]
2004Tier 3 [26]
2005Tier 3 [26]
2006Tier 3 [26]
2007Tier 3 [27]
2008Tier 3 [27]
2009Tier 3 [28]
2010Tier 3 [28]
2011Tier 3 [28]
2012Tier 2 Watch List [28]
2013Tier 2 Watch List [28]
2014Tier 2 Watch List [28]
2015Tier 2 Watch List [3]
2016Tier 3 [3]
2017Tier 2 Watch List [3]
2018Tier 3 [3]
2019Tier 3 [3]
2020Tier 3 [3]
2021Tier 3 [3]
2022Tier 3 [3]
2023Tier 3 [4]

Government response to human rights

While forced labor is widely considered the severest trafficking problem in Myanmar, authorities reported that most trafficking cases investigated and prosecuted involved women and girls subjected to, or intended to be subjected to, forced marriage or arranged marriage. The Myanmar regime rules arbitrarily and often tyrannically through its unilaterally imposed laws, but rule of law is absent, as is an independent judiciary that would respect trafficking victims’ rights. The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), Myanmar's military government, has not acknowledged the prevalence of human rights issues within their country, specifically human trafficking. No one has been held accountable for the serious crimes committed by government security forces. These crimes include forced labor, conscripting underage children, and personal, including sexual violence. [29]

The 2015 Rohingya crisis left thousands of people vulnerable to trafficking. [30] [31] [32]

The 2021 coup has made it more difficult for the government to tackle trafficking and other illegal activities. [23]

ILO and international cooperation

Myanmar law enforcement reported continued cooperation with Chinese counterparts on cross-border trafficking cases, including joint operations, as well as general cooperation with Thai authorities. [1] In 2009, the ILO continued to receive and investigate forced labor complaints; 93 cases were submitted to the Myanmar government for action, an increase from 64 cases in 2008; 54 cases remain open and are awaiting a response from the government. Despite a report of a child labor case involving as many as 100 children on an agricultural plantation near Rangoon, the regime did not report any efforts to investigate the allegation.

Many minors from Myanmar work in Thai border towns, particularly the town of Mae Sai. Drivers who smuggle illegal workers into Thailand go to villages to recruit minors, and then transport them to the border. In one such case found in a survey, a girl was deceived by a driver, and sold into prostitution. Between 20,000 and 30,000 women and girls from Myanmar are estimated to be working in the prostitution industry in Thailand. As illegal immigrants, they are often arrested and deported back to Myanmar. In the late 1990s, approximately 50 to 70 percent of the prostitutes were HIV positive. [33]

In other cases, children from Myanmar were tricked during their recruitment, and not paid for the jobs they were promised. It is believed that the children from Myanmar make up the largest sector of foreign working children. Minors also participate in the fishing industry and work in Bangkok, though this is not as common. The ethnic minorities from Myanmar working in Thailand were also found to have the lowest education in all minor workers surveyed, at about 1.3 years, and Burmese were found to have only a slightly higher education level, on average roughly four years. The minors from Myanmar that work in Thailand usually left for economic reasons. [34]

A lack of job opportunities in Myanmar has contributed to the rise of human trafficking operations; the trade is now no longer targeting just rural areas, but is reaching the country's major cities. Many of the 2.5 million migrants from Myanmar came to Thailand to find low-paying domestic jobs during the militaristic regime previously in place. These migrants often lack basic education and access to social security benefits. [35]

Conversations between the US and Myanmar have been more frequent in recent years. The U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Luis CdeBaca, and Myanmar Police Chief Major General Zaw Win concurred in the need for government-civil society partnerships, health care, and prevention. Reports from Washington indicated that the US felt improvements were underway. [35]

Prosecution of victims

Victims of forced labor cases are not protected from countersuit by regime officials. During 2009, 17 complainants and their associates in a series of forced labor cases involving 328 farmers in Magwe Division were prosecuted and imprisoned by local authorities for their role in reporting forced labor committed by local government officials.

Myanmar courts later released 13 of the individuals, but four complainants remain jailed. The central government did not intervene with local authorities to stop the politically motivated harassment, including lengthy interrogations, of the forced labour complainants. Such unaccountable harassment and punishment discouraged additional forced labor complaints. [1]

On February 28, 2014, Myanmar officials decided to ban Doctors Without Borders from the state of Rakhine after the organization discovered and treated 40 victims of violence between Muslim and Buddhist citizens that the government denied took place. The United Nations stipulates that its negotiations with Myanmar to allow Doctors Without Borders into the Rakhine state are of topmost importance, as citizens lack the ability to report human rights abuses for fear of becoming victims of reprisals. For victims of human trafficking, Doctors Without Borders is often the only access to health care. [36]

See also

Related Research Articles

Forced prostitution, also known as involuntary prostitution or compulsory prostitution, is prostitution or sexual slavery that takes place as a result of coercion by a third party. The terms "forced prostitution" or "enforced prostitution" appear in international and humanitarian conventions, such as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, but have been inconsistently applied. "Forced prostitution" refers to conditions of control over a person who is coerced by another to engage in sexual activity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in South Africa</span>

Human trafficking in South Africa occurs as a practice of forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation among imported and exported trafficked men, women, and children. Generally, South African girls are trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic servitude, while boys are used for street vending, food service, and agriculture. Anecdotal evidence suggests that South African children can also be forced to provide unpaid labor for landowners in return for land occupancy, living accommodation, or for maintaining labor tenancy rights. In any case, this form of unpaid labor has caused human trafficking to be described as a modern form of slavery. Human trafficking is the result of a combination of several factors, including gender inequality, economic instability, and political conflict. Since Africa experiences all of these, it is an active hub for human trafficking. Many urge for the need of a cultural shift to reduce instances of human trafficking by lessening the demand for sex and unpaid labor.

Sri Lanka is a source and destination country for men and women trafficked for the purposes of involuntary servitude and commercial sexual exploitation. Sri Lankan men and women migrate willingly to Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and South Korea to work as construction workers, domestic servants, or garment factory workers. However, some find themselves in situations of involuntary servitude when faced with restrictions on movement, withholding of passports, threats, physical or sexual abuse, and debt bondage that is, in some instances, facilitated by large pre-departure fees imposed by recruitment agents. Children are trafficked internally for commercial sexual exploitation and, less frequently, for forced labor. The designated Foreign Terrorist Organization Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) continued to recruit, sometimes forcibly, children for use as soldiers in areas outside the Sri Lankan government’s control. Government security forces may also be complicit in letting a pro-government paramilitary organization recruit, sometimes forcibly, child soldiers. Reports also indicate that a small number of women from Thailand, China, Russia, and other countries of the Newly Independent States are trafficked into Sri Lanka for commercial sexual exploitation. In November 2007, over 100 Sri Lankan peacekeeping soldiers were repatriated based on accusations that they engaged in sexual misconduct, some cases involving minors, in Haiti. The Government of Sri Lanka does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Sri Lanka is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for failing to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons over the previous year, particularly in the area of law enforcement.

According to the United States Department of State, "Thailand is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking." Thailand's relative prosperity attracts migrants from neighboring countries who flee conditions of poverty and, in the case of Burma, military repression. Significant illegal migration to Thailand presents traffickers with opportunities to coerce or defraud undocumented migrants into involuntary servitude or sexual exploitation. Police who investigated reaching high-profile authorities also received death threats in 2015.

Vietnam is primarily a source country for women and children trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Women and children are trafficked to the People’s Republic of China (P.R.C), Cambodia, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Macau for sexual exploitation. Vietnamese women are trafficked to the P.R.C., Taiwan, and the Republic of Korea via fraudulent or misrepresented marriages for commercial exploitation or forced labor. Vietnam is also a source country for men and women who migrate willingly and legally for work in the construction, fishing, or manufacturing sectors in Malaysia, Taiwan, P.R.C., Thailand, and the Middle East but subsequently face conditions of forced labor or debt bondage. Vietnam is a destination country for Cambodian children trafficked to urban centers for forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. Vietnam has an internal trafficking problem with women and children from rural areas trafficked to urban centers for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Vietnam is increasingly a destination for child sex tourism, with perpetrators from Japan, the Republic of Korea, the P.R.C., Taiwan, the UK, Australia, Europe, and the U.S. In 2007, an Australian non-governmental organization (NGO) uncovered 80 cases of commercial sexual exploitation of children by foreign tourists in the Sa Pa tourist area of Vietnam alone.

Italy is a destination and transit country for women, children, and men trafficked transnationally for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Women and children are trafficked mainly from Nigeria, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Albania, and Ukraine but also from Russia, South America, North and East Africa, the Middle East, China, and Uzbekistan. Chinese men and women are trafficked to Italy for the purpose of forced labor. Roma children continue to be trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced begging. Reportedly, an increasing number of victims are trafficked for labor, mostly in the agricultural sector. According to one NGO, 90 percent of foreign seasonal workers are unregistered and two-thirds are in Italy illegally, rendering them vulnerable to trafficking. The top five source countries for agricultural workers are Romania, Pakistan, Albania, and Ivory Coast. Traffickers reportedly are moving victims more frequently within Italy, often keeping victims in major cities for only a few months at a time, in an attempt to evade police detection.

Sex trafficking in Thailand is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the Kingdom of Thailand. Thailand is a country of origin, destination, and transit for sex trafficking. The sexual exploitation of children in Thailand is a problem. In Thailand, close to 40,000 children under the age of 16 are believed to be in the sex trade, working in clubs, bars, and brothels.

Bangladesh is a source and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. A significant share of Bangladesh's trafficking victims are men recruited for work overseas with fraudulent employment offers who are subsequently exploited under conditions of forced labor or debt bondage. It also includes the trafficking of children – both boys and girls – within Bangladesh for commercial sexual exploitation, bonded labor, and forced labor. Some children are sold into bondage by their parents, while others are induced into labor or commercial sexual exploitation through fraud and physical coercion. Women and children from Bangladesh are also trafficked.

Peru is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. Several thousand persons are estimated to be subjected to conditions of forced labor within Peru, mainly in mining, logging, agriculture, brick making, and domestic servitude. Many trafficking victims are women and girls from impoverished rural regions of the Amazon, recruited and coerced into prostitution in urban nightclubs, bars, and brothels, often through false employment offers or promises of education. Indigenous persons are particularly vulnerable to debt bondage. Forced child labor remains a problem, particularly in informal gold mines, cocaine production, and transportation. There were reports the terrorist group Sendero Luminoso, or Shining Path, recruited children as soldiers and drug mules. To a lesser extent, Peruvians are subjected to forced prostitution in Ecuador, Spain, Italy, Japan, and the United States, and forced labor in Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. Peru also is a destination country for some Ecuadorian and Bolivian females in forced prostitution, and some Bolivian citizens in conditions of forced labor. Child sex tourism is present in Iquitos, Madre de Dios, and Cuzco. Traffickers reportedly operate with impunity in certain regions where there is little or no government presence. In 2006, International Labour Organisation estimated that there were 33,000 people in conditions of forced labor in the Peruvian Amazon, primarily in the regions of Ucayali, Madre de Dios, Loreto, Pucallpa, Atalaya and Puerto Maldonado.

Iraq is both a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor. Iraqi women and girls, some as young as 11 years old, are subjected to conditions of human trafficking within the country and in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Qatar, and possibly Saudi Arabia for forced prostitution and sexual exploitation within households.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in Ghana</span>

Ghana is a country of origin, transit, and destination for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. The nonconsensual exploitation of Ghanaian citizens, particularly children, is more common than the trafficking of foreign migrants. The movement of internally trafficked children is either from rural to urban areas, or from one rural area to another, as from farming to fishing communities.

Malaysia is a destination and a source and transit country for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced prostitution and for men, women, and children who are in conditions of forced labour.

Human trafficking in Brazil is an ongoing problem. Brazil is a source country for men, women, girls, and boys subjected to human trafficking, specifically forced prostitution within the country and abroad, as well as a source country for men and boys in forced labor within the country. The United States Department of Homeland Security, describes human trafficking as "the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act."

Burundi is a source country for children and possibly women subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of involuntary domestic servitude and forced prostitution. Children and young adults may also be coerced into forced labor on plantations or small farms in southern Burundi, or to conduct informal commerce in the streets. Child labor is very common in agricultural fields where major exports, like tea and coffee, are harvested. Forced labour of children and adults is also very common in mines due to a large market for valuable stones and ores. Many trafficking victims can be found in mines in the northern area of Burundi, especially around Cibitoke. Some traffickers may be family or acquaintances of victims who, under the pretext of assisting underprivileged children with education or with false promises of lucrative jobs, subject them to forced labor, most commonly as domestic servants. While there is little evidence of large-scale child prostitution, “benevolent” older females offer vulnerable younger girls room and board within their homes, and in some cases eventually push them into prostitution to pay for living expenses; extended family members also financially profit from the commercial sexual exploitation of young relatives residing with them. It is most common for the trafficking of victims to remain internal within the country or to extend only to the surrounding countries. Male tourists from Oman and the United Arab Emirates exploit Burundian girls in prostitution. Businessmen recruit Burundian girls for commercial sexual exploitation in Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda, and recruit boys and girls for exploitation in various types of forced labor in Tanzania. Unlike in past years, there were no reports of forced or voluntary recruitment of children into government armed forces or rebel groups during the reporting period. If the trafficking of Burundians does extend externally, it is most common for them to be sent to locations in the Middle East and Western Europe.

Chad is a source and destination country for children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced labor and forced prostitution. The country's trafficking problem is primarily internal and frequently involves parents entrusting children to relatives or intermediaries in return for promises of education, apprenticeship, goods, or money; selling or bartering children into involuntary domestic servitude or herding is used as a means of survival by families seeking to reduce the number of mouths to feed. Child trafficking victims are primarily subjected to forced labor as herders, domestic servants, agricultural laborers, or beggars. Child cattle herders follow traditional routes for grazing cattle and at times cross ill-defined international borders into Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), and Nigeria. Underage Chadian girls travel to larger towns in search of work, where some are subsequently subjected to prostitution. Some girls are compelled to marry against their will, only to be forced by their husbands into involuntary domestic servitude or agricultural labor. In past reporting periods, traffickers transported children from Cameroon and the CAR to Chad's oil producing regions for commercial sexual exploitation; it is unknown whether this practice persisted in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in China</span>

China is a main source and also a significant transit and destination country for men, women, and children who are subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labour and forced prostitution. Women and children from China are trafficked to Africa, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America, predominantly Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Japan for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labour. Women and children from Myanmar, Vietnam, Mongolia, former USSR, North Korea, Romania, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, and Ghana are trafficked to China for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labour.

In 2009 Equatorial Guinea was principally a destination for children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced labor and possibly commercial sexual exploitation. Children were believed to be recruited and transported from nearby countries, primarily Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, and Gabon, and forced to work in domestic servitude, market labor, ambulant vending, and other forms of forced labor, such as carrying water and washing laundry. Most victims were believed to be exploited in Malabo and Bata, where a burgeoning oil industry created demand for labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Women may also have been recruited and transported to Equatorial Guinea from Cameroon, Benin, other neighboring countries, and from China for forced labor or forced prostitution. In October 2009, the vessel Sharon was detained in Gabon with 285 immigrants aboard, including 34 children identified as trafficking victims destined for Equatorial Guinea. Reports that women of Equatoguinean extraction were trafficked to Iceland for commercial sexual exploitation during the last reporting period have not reappeared.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in Southeast Asia</span>

Human trafficking in Southeast Asia has long been a problem for the area and is still prevalent today. It has been observed that as economies continue to grow, the demand for labor is at an all-time high in the industrial sector and the sex tourism sector. A mix of impoverished individuals and the desire for more wealth creates an environment for human traffickers to benefit in the Southeast Asia region. Many nations within the region have taken preventive measures to end human trafficking within their borders and punish traffickers operating there.

Sex trafficking in China is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the People's Republic of China. It is a country of origin, destination, and transit for sexually trafficked persons.

Sex trafficking in Myanmar is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Myanmar is primarily a source and transit country for sexually trafficked persons.

References

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  27. 1 2 "Trafficking in Persons Report 2014" (PDF). U.S. Department of State. July 2014.
  28. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Trafficking in Persons Report 2016" (PDF). U.S. Department of State. July 2016.
  29. ↑ "Human Rights Watch". Human Rights Watch. July 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  30. ↑ AP News website, Myanmar authorities arrest alleged traffickers of Rohingya, article by Grant Peck dated December 21, 2022
  31. ↑ International Organization for Migration, Thousands at Risk of Trafficking Amid Rohingya Refugee Crisis: IOM, article by Fiona MacGregor dated July 31, 2018
  32. ↑ The Situation of the Rohingya and Deadly Sea Crossings, article dated March 1, 2023
  33. ↑ Lim, Lin Lean (1998). The Sex Sector. ILO. ISBN   9789221095224.
  34. ↑ "Trafficking in Children into the Worst Forms of Child Labour: A Rapid Assessment" (PDF).
  35. 1 2 Lipes, Joshua. "Myanmar Pledges to Tackle Human Trafficking Through International Collaboration". Federal Government Document and Publications. ProQuest   1433382131.
  36. ↑ Editorial Board (17 March 2014). "Myanmar's Deadly Medicine". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
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