"Throughout 2004, large numbers of people continued to leave Burma to seek work abroad. Approximately ten percent of Burma?s population migrates to other countries, according to a report, Migration, Needs, Issues and Responses in the Greater Mekong Subregion 2002, by the Asian Migrant Center. People leave Burma for a number of reasons. Rampant inflation, a deteriorating economy and general lack of employment and educational opportunities are factors that cause many people to emigrate. In addition to these hardships, many people living in rural areas are forced to pay heavy taxes to local officials and the military and to sell a large percentage of their crops to the government at below-market prices. The regime?s gross and continued violation of fundamental human rights resulted in the extension of U.S. trade sanctions and the institution of EU non-trade related sanctions in August 2004, placing further economic pressure on the citizens of Burma (source: World Factbook, CIA, 2004). For these reasons, many Burmese view their migration as less of a decision than an economic necessity. Ethnic minority people living in civil war zones often have no choice about emigrating, as they are forced to flee their homes to avoid brutal campaigns of violence perpetrated against them by SPDC soldiers. Every year thousands of people flee across the border, primarily into Thailand, to escape human rights violations which include mass forced relocation, arbitrary arrest, torture, rape and extra-judicial killing. Some of these people are able to enter refugee camps in Thailand and Bangladesh. However, many of those fleeing human rights violations are not recognized as refugees by the governments of countries neighboring Burma to which they usually arrive. These individuals are left with the choice of trying to enter refugee camps illegally or else trying to survive as migrant workers. Migration from Burma is facilitated by the fact that seven of Burma?s 14 states and divisions share borders with neighboring countries. In the west, Burma borders Bangladesh and India, in the north and northeast China, and in the east Laos, Malaysia and Thailand. In a 1999 report by Save the Children UK, Small Dreams Beyond Reach: The Lives of Migrant Children and Youth Along the Borders of China, Myanmar, and Thailand, the authors note that in the past ten years the largest flow of migrants in the Mekong region has been concentrated along the borders of China, Burma and Thailand, with Burmese people making up the largest percentage of the population migrating. The report goes on to note that while China, India, Bangladesh and Thailand have collectively reported hosting over two million Burmese migrants, the actual population of people from Burma living in these countries is likely to be much higher. However, it is extremely difficult to obtain accurate estimates as to the number of Burmese working abroad, as many are illegal, and the migrant population as a whole is highly mobile. In addition, some migrant groups are ethnically similar to indigenous populations of neighboring countries, making them difficult to identify as non-natives..."