Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Kachin State
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Eastward Bound |
| Date of publication: | | 05 August 2008 |
| Description/subject: | | Summary of key findings: The report documents 133 verified and suspected trafficking cases, involving 163 women and girls, which occurred between 2004 and mid-2007
. As political and economic conditions inside Burma continue to deteriorate, more and more Kachin women are migrating to China in search of work, and are ending up as forced brides of Chinese men.
. Most of the forced brides were transported across China to marry men in the eastern provinces, particularly Shandong Province. Women described being shown to many men, sometimes in marketplaces, before being chosen. The husbands, predominantly farmers, paid an average of US$1,900 for their brides.
. About a quarter of those trafficked were under 18, with girls as young as 14 forced to be brides. Several cases involved traffickers attempting to buy babies.
. The continuing high incidence of trafficking indicates that the regime's new anti-trafficking law, passed in September 2005, is failing to have any impact in curbing the problem. Provisions in the regime's new law to protect the rights of trafficking victims are not being adhered to. Women are also being falsely accused of trafficking under the new law.
. Women report that Chinese police have been helpful in assisting them to return to Burma, but have sometimes demanded compensation from Burma border officials for repatriating trafficking victims......
Growing numbers of Kachin women trafficked as brides across China
Forced by deteriorating political and economic conditions in Burma to
migrate to China, ethnic Kachin women are increasingly ending up as forced
brides, according to a new report by an indigenous women¹s group.
³Eastward Bound² by the Kachin Women¹s Association Thailand (KWAT),
documents the trafficking of 163 women and girls between 2004 and mid-2007,
almost all to China. While 40% of the women have simply disappeared, most of
the rest were forced to marry men in provinces across eastern China.
About a quarter of those trafficked were under 18. Most of these girls, as
young as 14, were sold as brides for an average of about USD 2,000, usually
to farmers.
The report highlights how the Burmese regime¹s new anti-trafficking law,
passed in September 2005, is failing not only to curb trafficking, but also
to protect the rights of trafficked women. Victims have been refused
assistance by the Burmese Embassy in Beijing, denied entry back to Burma,
and falsely accused of trafficking themselves. One woman accused of
trafficking was raped in detention by a local official.
³Anti-trafficking laws are meaningless under a regime that systematically
violates people¹s rights, and whose policies are driving citizens to
migrate,² said Gum Khong, a researcher for the report.
While international agencies have raised the alert about increased
trafficking in Burma following Cyclone Nargis, KWAT cautions against
indirectly endorsing the regime¹s heavy-handed attempts to control
migration.
³International agencies must look holistically at the trafficking problem,
and not be complicit in any efforts by the regime to further abuse people¹s
rights under the guise of preventing trafficking² said KWAT spokesperson
Shirley Seng.
KWAT first exposed the trafficking of Kachin women on the China-Burma border
in their 2005 report ³Driven Away.²
The new report can be viewed at http://www.womenofburma.org
For hard copies of the report, please contact: kwat@loxinfo.co.th
For further information contact: Gum Khong +66 84 616 5245 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +66 84 616 5245 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Shirley Seng +66 84 485 7252 |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Kachin Women's Association, Thailand (KWAT) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (1.7MB, 2MB - Alt. URL)) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.womenofburma.org/Report/EastwardBound.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 04 August 2008 |
|
| Title: | | Driven Away: Trafficking of Kachin women on the China-Burma border |
| Date of publication: | | 15 May 2005 |
| Description/subject: | | "An alarming trend is developing in ethnic Kachin communities of Burma. Growing poverty, caused by failed state policies, is driving increasing numbers of young people to migrate in search of work. As a result, young women and girls are disappearing without trace, being sold as wives in China, and tricked into the Chinese and Burmese sex industries. Local Kachin researchers conducted interviews in Burma from May-August 2004 in order to document this trend.
"Driven Away: Trafficking of Kachin women on the China-Burma border", produced by the Kachin Women's Association Thailand (KWAT), is based on 63 verified and suspected trafficking cases that occurred primarily during 2000-2004. The cases involve 85 women and girls, mostly between the ages of 14 and 20. Testimony comes primarily from women and girls who escaped after being trafficked, as well as relatives, persons who helped escapees, and others.
About two-thirds of the women trafficked were from the townships of Myitkyina and Bhamo in Kachin State. About one third were from villages in northern Shan State. In 36 of the cases, women were specifically offered safe work opportunities and followed recruiters to border towns. Many were seeking part-time work to make enough money for school fees during the annual three-month school holiday. Others simply needed to support their families. Those not offered work were taken while looking for work, tricked, or outright abducted.
Women taken to China were most often passed on to traffickers at the border to be transported farther by car, bus and/or train for journeys of up to one week in length. Traffickers used deceit, threats, and drugs to confuse and control women en route..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Kachin Women's Association, Thailand (KWAT) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (3.3MB), 2.2MB |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.womenofburma.org/Report/Driven_Away.pdf (original, authoritative) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 17 May 2005 |
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