81 human trafficking cases prevented in Myanmar between 2020 and 2021

YANGON, Dec 18 (Eleven Media Group/ANN): Myanmar have prevented 81 cases of human trafficking, helping 840 people between 2020 and 2021, said Brigadier General Aung Htay Myint, head of the Transnational Crime Division.

He revealed the information during the 5th inter-ministerial meeting of the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking – COMMIT, which took on via video link at the Myanmar Police Force headquarters, state-run newspapers reported.

The meeting was attended by departmental representatives led by Deputy Minister for Home Affairs Chief of Myanmar Police Force Maj-Gen Zin Min Htet, representatives from COMMIT countries — Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand and Viet Nam — and officials from the COMMIT Secretariat.

Thailand chaired the meeting and gave an opening speech. At the meeting, member countries discussed the implementation of the Mekong sub-regional work plan – SPA IV, the effects of the work plan SPA IV, and lessons learned.

Brig-Gen Aung Htay Myint shared the efforts for the education and protection services given to people from basic strata, teenagers and children, who were easy targets for the trafficking, in collaboration with community-based social organizations, the Social Welfare Department, the Rehabilitation Department, the Myanmar Women's Affairs Federation, the Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association and related associations. As a result of the efforts, 81 cases were solved in the prevention of possible human trafficking, helping 468 men and 372 women, between 2020 and 2021.

Myanmar migrant workers will return to foreign countries even after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Emphasis is being put on ethical recruitment, and legalization of return is being processed in advance. Authorities have urged governments and employers of destination countries to take action in advance for full access to labour rights.

Myanmar also helped its nationals who were trafficked — six from the Republic of China, and 25 from Cambodia, totalled 31, to commute back to the State within the third quarter of 2022.

Afterwards, Myanmar requested a discussion to take serious action on sharing the technical facilities for the investigation of traffickers on social media, different human trafficking laws and domestic laws in each country, identifying ways to deal with the difficulty of investigating crimes, and enhancing the ethical recruitment activities to decrease the trafficking cases due to lack of employment opportunities.

Finally, they conferred affairs regarding the achievement of the Mekong sub-regional work plan's objectives with a multi-sectoral approach, the development of the Transnational Referral Mechanism – TRM and the designing of a Mekong sub-regional work plan SPA V. – Eleven Media Group/ANN