U.S. on the Trafficking of ethnic w

[Thakin@xxxxxxx]

In a message dated 9/26/00 8:03:36 AM Eastern Daylight Time, BURMAJAPAN 
writes:

<< 
 http://www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/99hrp_index.html
 
 Part of the 1999 U.S. Human Rights Report on Burma / Myanmar  focusing on 
the trafficking of women and children.
 
  f. Trafficking in Persons No law was known specifically to prohibit 
trafficking in persons; however, there were laws, including laws against 
abduction, that prohibited some aspects of trafficking. Trafficking in women 
and children is a severe problem. Burma is a source country for thousands of 
women and young girls who are trafficked into the commercial sex industries 
of neighboring countries. There are reliable reports that many women and 
children in border areas, where the Government's control is limited, were 
forced or lured into working as prostitutes in Thailand and China. It is 
unknown how many young women have been induced or coerced into working as 
prostitutes, but a common practice is to lure young women to Thailand with 
promises of employment as a waitress or domestic servant. Government efforts 
to stop trafficking in young women are limited and relatively ineffective. In 
recent years the Government has made it difficult for women to obtain 
passports or marry foreigners in order to reduce the outflow of women both as 
victims of trafficking and for other reasons (see Sections 1.f. and 2.d.). 
However, most citizens who were forced or lured into prostitution crossed the 
border into Thailand without passports. It is illegal to leave Burma without 
government authorization. Child prostitution of girls, especially from the 
Shan ethnic minority sent or lured to Thailand, continued to be a major 
problem. ### 1 36 BURMA  >>