Eliminate exploitation to combat trafficking in persons

HUMAN trafficking is a modern form of slavery and, as a global issue, it poses challenges to countries worldwide. Following the illicit drug trade, human trafficking has become the second most lucrative source of profit, and as a result, criminal groups are committing transnational crimes, targeting foreign countries.

 

In Myanmar, 56 per cent of the human trafficking cases occur­ring annually are domestic trafficking, while 44 per cent involve cross-border trafficking. Domestic trafficking mainly includes forced prostitution and forced labour, whereas cross-border trafficking involves forced marriages, forced prostitution, forced labour, debt bondage, illegal adoption, child sales, and forced begging.

 

According to changing patterns of human trafficking, some young men from neighbouring countries have entered Myanmar under various pretexts. Instead of marrying Myanmar women out of genuine affection, they have deceitfully paid money to wed them, arranged formal marriage registrations in court, and then legally tak­en them to their countries. In addition, there have been cases where certain nationals from regional countries entered My­anmar on tourist visas, opened language schools in name only, and organized efforts to have Myanmar women marry their compatriots.

 

Human traffickers use popular social media and in­ternet platforms such as Face­book, TikTok, Telegram, and WeChat to send messages, lure, and gather victims, openly conducting recruitment oper­ations through these technol­ogies. The problem of human trafficking has also evolved beyond targeting only impov­erished or uneducated indi­viduals; even educated people with degrees are increasingly becoming involved.

 

In Myanmar, the social groups most at risk of falling victim to human trafficking in­clude low-income communities, the unemployed, adolescents and young men and women, and the homeless. Relevant organizations must continuously provide awareness-raising, education, and pro­tective measures to safeguard these vulnerable groups.

 

Starting from March 2025, an operational framework focuses on preventing the trafficking of Myanmar women who marry foreign people under initiatives of intelligence gathering, preventive meas­ures, and enforcement actions. Relevant ministries and regional/ state governments have been working closely together to combat fake marriage arrangements that serve as a cover for trafficking. The initiative’s specific goal is to safeguard Myanmar women from deceptive activities and to ensure that such matters are treated in a timely and lawful manner.

 

Since 1997, Myanmar has designated anti-human trafficking efforts as a national responsibility. Currently, Myanmar is successfully implementing annual action plans under the Fourth National Plan of Action against Human Trafficking (2022–2026). Human trafficking is an inhumane crime that treats people as mere commodities for profit. To completely eradicate human trafficking within Myanmar’s society, all forms of exploitation and commodification of human beings must be fully eliminated.