Stolen Lives: Human trafficking from Palaung areas of Burma to China
Embargo until 14th June 2010
Executive
Summary
The
Palaung Women's Organization (PWO) has documented 72 cases of actual and suspected
trafficking involving 110 people, which took place along the China-Burma
border, mostly during the past six years. The majority of those trafficked were
young Palaung women from tea farming communities in Namkham, Namhsan and
Mantong townships.
PWO
surveys in villages from which women have been trafficked show that up to 41%
of the population have migrated to work elsewhere. Large scale migration began
after the surrender in 2005 of the Palaung State Liberation Army, which had
controlled Palaung areas under a ceasefire agreement since 1991. There has been
a surge of Burma Army troops and proxy militia into the area since the
surrender, who have imposed increased controls and taxes on agriculture and
trading. Together with rising prices of food commodities from Central Burma,
and increasing costs of health and education, this has meant that tea farmers
can no longer earn a living and young people have to leave home to survive.
This has led to an alarming increase in the incidence of trafficking of women,
men and children, mainly to China.
Most
of those trafficked were tricked into travelling to China by being offered
well-paid jobs on farms or in factories. In 25% of the cases, women were forced
to marry Chinese men, with brokers receiving up to 25,000 Yuan (approx 3,800
USD) for the transaction. 10% were forced into the sex trade. Some ended up
being used as live feed for leeches. Known destinations were mainly in Yunnan
province, but some ended up as far east as Shandong.
A
disturbing trend is that eleven of the cases were children under 10, five of
whom were under one year old. Most were boys. Some of these children were
simply kidnapped from their homes, but others were sold by parents who were
alcohol or drug users. As highlighted by PWO in earlier reports, opium
cultivation in Palaung areas has skyrocketed in recent years due to the profits
being made by the Burma Army and its militia from the drug trade. This has led
to increasing addiction among Palaung men, who not only sell off all their
possessions to buy drugs but also their children.
In
only eleven cases were the trafficked persons able to escape, some after years
of forced marriage to Chinese men. Family members seeking to trace trafficked
persons sought help in vain from local Burmese authorities and social
organizations. In some cases perpetrators were arrested and jailed, but several
paid bribes or fines and were then released.
The
Burmese military regime has passed anti-trafficking legislation since 2005 and
set up special anti-trafficking units, including at Muse on the China-Burma
border. However, these measures appear to have had little effect, due to
failure to address the structural root causes driving human trafficking.
The
situation looks set to worsen following the November 2010 elections. Burma’s
military rulers ensured that their cronies won in the Palaung areas, including
well-known druglord Kyaw Myint, who is now an MP for Namkham. Militarization has continued unabated, and
new military offensives by the regime against ethnic ceasefire groups have
ignited fighting once again in northern Shan State. Even before the new
parliament was convened, a new national budget was approved which continued to
prioritize military spending far above education and health.
Radical
structural political changes are thus urgently needed to address the problem of
human trafficking and migration in Burma.
PWO
therefore makes the following recommendations:
To the military government
- To restore national reconciliation and genuine peace in Burma, the military government should immediately being political dialogue with representatives of the pro-democracy forces and the ethnic nationalities
- To immediately implement a nationwide ceasefire and stop military offensives in the ethnic areas
- To review the policies of anti-trafficking in Burma to ensure they are addressing the root causes of the trafficking problem
- To lift all restrictions on activities of community based organisations, including those assisting trafficked persons
To the international community
- Not to recognise the undemocratic military-backed government in Burma
- To increase pressure on the military government to immediately start political dialogue towards genuine peace and democracy in Burma
To INGOs and NGOs
- To evaluate the effectiveness of anti-trafficking programs which are being supported inside Burma, and to monitor whether they are transparent and accountable
- To provide more support for civil society organisations, including those working cross-border, which provide direct assistance to people affected by trafficking
To the Chinese government
- To re-evaluate China’s economic and diplomatic support of Burma’s military government, whose policies are continuing to sink Burma’s people deeper into conflict and poverty, causing mass migration and fuelling human trafficking to China.
To local communities:
- To accept trafficking survivors back into their community and to provide necessary support to them so that they can rebuild their lives
Background
of Palaung Women’s Organization
The
Palaung Women’s Organization (PWO) was established in 2000 to support the
Palaung people of Burma.
PWO provides gender and human rights training to Palaung women and their
communities, increases international and community knowledge of the Palaung
culture and history, and raises awareness of the human rights abuses suffered
by Palaung people.
For
more information, please contact: (+66) 055 546 606 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (+66) 055 546 606 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
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