Victims of Burma Cyclone Rescued from Human Traffickers

The Irrawaddy News

More than 80 women and child victims of Burma's recent cyclone have been rescued from human traffickers who were scheming to smuggle them to neighboring countries, a media report said Thursday.

Border police caught the traffickers, who had taken victims of Cyclone Nargis from the Irrawaddy delta to frontier areas, between June 11 to 14, the biweekly journal Eleven reported, quoting police.

Police Lt-Col Rahlyan Mone, from the force's human trafficking division, told the Rangoon-based journal that victims facing hardship are 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 one of the world's poorest nations 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.

Burma introduced an anti-human trafficking law in September 2005 that imposes a maximum penalty of death.

Local and foreign aid officials fear that trafficking could increase in wake of the cyclone, which hit BUrma May 2 to 3, killing more than 84,500 people and leaving nearly 54,000 missing.