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Cyclone victims rescued from human traffickers
More than 80 women and child victims of Myanmar's recent cyclone have been rescued from human traffickers who were scheming to smuggle them to neighbouring countries, a media report said on Thursday.
- AP
- Published: 00:07 July 4, 2008
Yangon: More than 80 women and child victims of Myanmar's recent cyclone have been rescued from human traffickers who were scheming to smuggle them to neighbouring countries, a media report said on Thursday.
Border police caught the traffickers, who had taken the victims of Cyclone Nargis from the Irrawaddy delta to frontier areas, between June 11 to 14, the well-regarded biweekly journal Eleven reported, quoting police.
Police Lt Col Rahlyan Mone, from the force's human trafficking division, told the Yangon-based journal that victims facing hardship were being enticed with job offers abroad by traffickers disguised as aid workers.
Police officials and other authorities who deal with human trafficking could not immediately be reached for comment.
Cross-border trafficking, especially to Thailand, has grown in recent years as people in the impoverished nation seek opportunities elsewhere but are often tricked or coerced into prostitution or sweatshops.
The ruling junta has warned against exploitation of cyclone victims and urged the public to report any evidence of human trafficking.
Death penalty
Myanmar introduced an anti-human trafficking law in September 2005 that imposes a maximum penalty of death.
Local and foreign aid officials had expressed fears that trafficking could increase in the wake of the cyclone, which lashed Myanmar May from 2 to 3, killing more than 84,500 people and leaving nearly 54,000 missing.
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