Forced marriages driving human trafficking, UN says- Myanmar Times

By Juliet Shwe Gaung
(Volume 26, No. 512)

TWO-THIRDS of human trafficking cases uncovered by the Myanmar Police Force’s anti-trafficking units in 2009 involved women being trafficked into China for the purpose of forced marriage.

Out of 155 human trafficking cases uncovered in 2009, 103 involved the forced marriage of girls and women, the Myanmar Police Force figures show.

Most of the victims were lured by the promise of a relatively high-paying job in China but were then sold off to Chinese men, a spokesperson from the United Nations Inter-Agency Project (UNIAP) on Human Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region told The Myanmar Times last month.

“Most of the trafficked Myanmar women were sold to men in villages and poor communities in China, where Chinese men do not think of this practise as trafficking; instead they consider it as paying a dowry,” UNIAP national project coordinator Daw Ohnmar Ei Ei Chaw said.

“Men pay anywhere from RMB20,000 to RMB40,000 (US$2900 to $5800) – or even more – to a broker for a trafficked woman to be their wife, depending on the woman’s looks and age. They even have a wedding ceremony in their village. However, if this happens without the consent of the woman, it is clearly a trafficking case,” she said.

One of the main factors driving demand is that the “dowry” for a Myanmar woman is often significantly less than for a Chinese woman. Myanmar women are also perceived to be obedient and, as foreigners, have little chance for recourse.
However, another factor is China’s one-child policy, which has indirectly led to a population ratio of 120 males for every 100 females and the country is now a major source, transit and destination point for human trafficking.

Of the 155 human trafficking cases uncovered in 2009, 130 cases were trafficking into China. Of the remaining 25 cases, 14 were trafficking into Thailand and 11 were internal trafficking, the figures show.

The forced marriage victims were generally repatriated by Chinese officials for being illegal immigrants.

“I met one woman who was sent back to Myanmar and she said she wanted to go back to China just simply because she missed her two children, who had been left with their Chinese father when she was rescued and returned to Myanmar,” she said.

According to a February 3 report in the English edition of China-based newspaper Global Times, at least 263 Myanmar women were kidnapped and sold into forced marriages in Yunnan Province in 2009, up from 87 recorded cases in 2008.
Prices had also increased, the report said, with Chinese men paying a minimum of RMB38,000 ($5510) for a trafficked Myanmar woman in 2009, up from RMB20,000 to RMB30,000 ($2900 to $4350) in 2008.

“Many parents have no idea their daughters are kidnapped and sold in China, instead they think they are having a better life; therefore they don’t call the police,” said Lin Huiming, the head of criminal police in Ruili on the China-Myanmar border.

Since 2008, at least 489 Myanmar women aged between 11 and 57 have been rescued and sent back to Myanmar, the report said.

“The neighbouring countries admire China’s economic boom; while in China, there is a growing population of men in poorer areas in several provinces including Anhui, Hubei and Sichuan who are desperate to have a wife,” said Li Shunqiong, team leader at China’s anti-human trafficking brigade.

Daw Ohnmar Ei Ei Chaw said many of the human trafficking victims were from poor families but that was not always the case.

“[Trafficking] can happen to anyone. We have trafficking victims who are university graduates, people from better-off families, male and married women,” she said.

Those with information related to a human trafficking case should contact the Myanmar Police Force’s Anti Trafficking Unit in Nay Pyi Taw (Tel: (067) 412-201), the Yangon Anti Trafficking Task Force (Tel: (01) 251-438) or Muse Anti Trafficking Task Force (Tel: (082) 528-90).

Forced marriages driving human trafficking, UN says- Myanmar Times

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