Secret Camps Holding Rohingya Refugees Must Be Closed Immediately

On International Migrants Day the Mekong Migration Network Calls for Urgent Action To Protect Asylum Seekers

The Mekong Migration Network (MMN) strongly condemns the abusive treatment of the Rohingya in Myanmar and in Thailand. Members of MMN who represent civil society groups working on labour, women and migration issues in all of the countries of the Mekong subregion, are shocked by the treatment of the Rohingya people […]

Trafficking in Persons Report 2013: Burma

Burma is a source country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor, and for women and children subjected to sex trafficking in other countries. Many Burmese men, women, and children who migrate for work to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the United States, China, Bangladesh, India, South Korea, and Qatar are subjected to conditions of forced labor or sex trafficking in these countries […]

Pushed to the Brink: Conflict and Human Trafficking on the Kachin-China Border

On the surface, Burma seems to be strengthening its fight against human trafficking. Burma’s long-held position in the lowest ranking of international trafficking efforts finally inched upwards a rank as a result of several policy reforms and new programs. An anti-trafficking hotline opened, as did several anti-trafficking task force offices. Anti-trafficking stickers and posters are plastered in areas across the country, and American singer Jason Mraz recently teamed with MTV to hold a massive free concert in Rangoon to raise awareness about human trafficking

The Kachin Women’s Association –  Thailand’s earlier reports Driven Away (2005) and Eastward Bound (2008) had documented the growing incidence of trafficking along the China-Burma border. This new report looks at the impacts of the renewed conflict on this problem […]

Burma’s War Against Kachin Creating ‘Perfect Storm’ for Human Trafficking

A new report by Kachin women exposes how the Burmese government’s war against the Kachin has greatly increased the risk of human trafficking along the China-Burma border […]

Sold to the Sea: Human Trafficking in Thailand’s Fishing Industry

Human trafficking is a global problem. It is estimated that as many as 27 million men, women and children are currently victims of human trafficking around the world.

Thailand is the 32nd largest economy in the world, with a GDP of $377 billion and a growth rate of 5.5 per cent in 2012.2/3 It also has one of the lowest unemployment rates globally, at 0.5 per cent in December 2012.

Thailand’s economy is heavily reliant on labour-intensive industries. However, growing economic prosperity since the late 1980s has seen a decline in the available Thai workforce needed to meet the labour demand.5 In 2009, Thailand’s Ministry of Labour estimated that an additional 116,000 workers would be needed to address the labour-market imbalance […]

Myanmar Must End Its Policy of Segregation in Rakhine State: ASEAN’s Inability to Act Points to Institutional Failures

The Myanmar government’s policy of segregating Muslim and Buddhist communities in Rakhine State is compounding a humanitarian crisis there, while ASEAN’s failure to positively influence the situation points to continued institutional failures in the regional grouping, the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) said today […]

Military repression in Burma’s northern Shan State fuelling human trafficking to China

A new report released today by the Palaung Women’s Organisation reveals alarming rates of human trafficking from Burma into China, fuelled by large scale migration due to increased military repression and economic hardship in northern Shan State […]

Stolen Lives: Human Trafficking from Palaung Areas of Burma to China

The Palaung Women’s Organization (PWO) has released a new report that explore and uncovers human trafficking in Ethnic Palaung areas.

PWO has documented 72 cases of actual or 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 […]