Burma is a source country for men, women, and children who are subjected to forced labor and for women and children subjected to sex traficking in other countries. Many Burmese men, women, and children who migrate for work in Thailand, Malaysia, China, Bangladesh, India, and South Korea are subjected to conditions of forced labor or sex traficking in these countries.
Poor economic conditions within Burma have led to increased legal and illegal migration of Burmese men, women, and children throughout East Asia and to destinations in the Middle East, where they are subject to forced labor and sex traficking. For example, men are subjected to forced labor in the ishing and construction industries abroad. Some Bangladeshi traficking victims transit Burma en route to Malaysia, while Chinese victims transit Burma en route to Thailand. The government is beginning to address the systemic political and economic factors that cause many Burmese to seek employment through both legal and illegal means in neighboring countries, where some become victims of traficking.
Traficking within Burma both by government oficials and private actors continues to be a signiicant problem. Military personnel and insurgent militia engage in the unlawful conscription of child soldiers and they continue to be the leading perpetrators of forced labor inside the country, particularly in conlict-prone ethnic areas. Since the dissolution of a ceaseire wit h t he Kachin Independence Ar my in June 2011, ighting has displaced an estimated 60,000 Kachin residents, who are highly vulnerable to forced labor and sex traficking. An NGO study published in 2010 found an acute problem in Chin State, where a survey of over 600 households indicated that over 92 percent experienced at least one instance of a household member subjected to forced labor; the Burmese military reportedly imposed two-thirds of these forced labor demands. Because authorities refuse to recognize members of certain ethnic minority groups (including the Rohingyas) as citizens and do not provide them with identiication documentation, members of these communities are more vulnerable to traficking.