Burma/Myanmar

There have been 200,000 Burmese women trafficked to Karachi, Pakistan. (Indrani Sinha, SANLAAP India, "Paper on Globalization and Human Rights") The number of Burmese women and girls travelling to Thailand through Mae Sai to enter the sex industry is increasing. 60% of them are under 18 years of age. (Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Influx of Burmese sex workers via Mae Sai on the rise," Bangkok Post, 2 June 1997)

The military and political situations in Burma, has led to an increase in migration, which has made women extremely vulnerable to trafficking for prostitution. (Indrani Sinha, executive director, "Paper on Globalization and Human Rights," SANLAAP)

Girls from Burma, aged 12-18, are in more demand for the sex industry in Thailand since traffickers are luring fewer girls from Northern Thailand. (Wanchai Boonphacra, Centre for the Protection of Children's Rights, "More foreign workers join sex industry as fewer Thai girls enter flesh trade," Poona Antaseeda, Bangkok Post, 24 November 1997)

Burmese girls trafficked to Thailand come from Chiang Tung, Ta Khi Lek, opposite Mae Sai, and Yong and come from minority groups such as the Tai Yai and Mon. (Poona Antaseeda "More foreign workers join sex industry as fewer Thai girls enter flesh trade" Bangkok Post, 24 November 1997)

Methods and Techniques of Traffickers

Deceptive job placements, abduction by agents and the sale of girls from hill tribes are all forms of trafficking. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)

The 'green rice season', when farmers are short of money, is the prime season for Œgirl hunting¹ in the rural and hill tribes. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)

Health and Well-Being

Policy and Law

Since Burma¹s turn to a market economy in 1988, prostitution has increased. Some blame the promotion and growth of tourism. ("Myanmar tightens laws against prostitution," Reuters, 7 April 1998) 20,000-30,000 Burmese women are in prostitution in Thailand. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)

Policy and Law

The military government has tightened laws to curb the growing prostitution trade. The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) amended the Suppression of Prostitution Act, 1949, and raised the jail term for those convicted of the offence to a maximum of five years. Previously, the prison term was "not less than one year and not more than three years." The term brothel was redefined to include any house, building, room, any kind of vehicle/vessel/ aircraft or place habitually used for the purpose of prostitution or used with reference to any kind of business for the purpose of prostitution. ("Myanmar tightens laws against prostitution," Reuters, 7 April 1998)

Official Corruption and Collaboration

The Burmese Army, with 300,000 troops, has for the last 35 years effectively been a school for rape and ethnic cleansing of women from ethnic minorities. Many girls living in the southern panhandle have continued to be raped by soldiers after the signing of a cease-fire between the New Mon State Party and the junta in June 1995. (Earthright Organization, William Barnes, "Military a school for mass rape," South China Morning Post, 23 February 1980)

Rape by the Burmese military, particularly against ethnic minority women, is institutional and endemic throughout areas of conflict in Burma. However, the government does not provide protection for these women. (V. Coakley, "Commentary: School of Rape, the Burmese Military and Sexual Violence" Burma Issues, April 1998)

Ethnic Burmese women are being systematically raped by military personnel as part of a campaign of ethnic cleansing. The violence against women is directly related to the military's goal of wiping out all ethnic resistance. "There is a pattern of rape, and...civilians are targeted for political reasons or because they are part of a certain ethnic group," said the EarthRights group. According to the United Nations (UN) special rapporteur on Burma, government troops have been abducting "increasing numbers of women, including young girls," and subjecting them to rape and other abuses. The UN Commission on Human Rights says women most likely to be raped are refugees, internally displaced women, and women belonging to ethnic minorities. Rapes by the military typically occur during raids on villages, when women are abducted for forced labor, or during encounters with victims of forced relocations in the jungle. (Dennis Bernstein and Leslie Kean, "Burma: Evidence of Systematic Military Use of Rape," Boston Globe, 30 July 1998)

Cases

The Burmese Army has been accused of fostering a "school for rape," and been responsible for sexually abusing Burmese women in epidemic proportions. One platoon of troops from LIB 519, led by Sergeant Hla Phyu, stationed at Kaeng Kham village went from house to house, raping every adult woman in the village. "When soldiers rape women there is no action taken against them, they have permission from their officers." Dozens of women and girls were killed in a mass murder after being raped by the Burmese soldiers. (1996 Shan Human Rights Foundation report, Shan resistance leader Sao Ood Kesi, Denis Bernstein and Leslie Kean, "Ethnic Cleansing: Rape as weapon of war in Burma," The Nation, 16 June 1998,)

On September 15, 1997, 120 troops led by Capt. Htun Mya found 42 women and 57 men hiding in the forest in Kunhing Township. The troops gang-raped all the women for two days and two nights. Afterwards, the soldiers reportedly killed all the 99 villagers. (1996 Shan Human Rights Foundation report, Shan resistance leader Sao Ood Kesi, Denis Bernstein and Leslie Kean, "Ethnic Cleansing: Rape as weapon of war in Burma," The Nation, 16 June 1998)