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BURMA HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT OCT 95 (2 (r)
Subject: BURMA HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT OCT 95 (2.48-4.48)
/* posted Wed 7 Feb 6:00am 1995 by DRUNOO@xxxxxxxxxxxx(DR U NE OO) in
igc:reg.burma */
/* -----------" BURMA HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT, OCT 95 (4.28-4.48) "---------- */
Following materials are reproduction from the findings of Human Rights
Sub-Committee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affair, Defence
and Trade of the Parliament of Australia, published in October 1995.
Anyone wishing to inquire about the document may contact Ms Margaret
Swieringa, Secretary, Human Rights Sub-Committee, Parliament House,
Canberra A.C.T. 2600, AUSTRALIA.
Best regards, U Ne Oo.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER FOUR: (4.28 - 4.48)
**************************
The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia
Joint Standing Committee of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade
A REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE LACK OF PROGRESS TOWARDS DEMOCRACY
IN BURMA (MYANMAR) October 1995
CHAPTER FOUR: BORDER REGIONS (4.28 - 4.48)
-----------------------------------------
Trafficking in women
4.28 A consequence of political oppression, corruption, war, and poverty -
especially in the Burmese country side - and has been the growth in the
trade in women, girls and yooung men from Burma into Thailand. Most of the
women and young girls are recruited for the purpose of prostitution. The
trade in people has grown with the official opening of some trade routes
for the importation into Thailand of logs and gems, as well as drugs and
other goods. The trading boom has increased the demand for labour and has
encouraged the supply of illegal workers [17] into Thailand away from rural
poverty, inflation and forced labour in Burma. In the towns along the trade
routes on either side of the border, Mae Sai and Taichelek, Mai Sot and
Myawaddy, Three Pagodas Pass and the Ye township, Ranong and Kawthaung,
brothels have multiplied rapidly over the last six years. For example
according to a 1992 study by Hnin Hnin Pyne, the number of brothels in
Ranong multiplied threefold between 1988 and 1992 [18]. Similarly the
Committee was told of flourishing brothels along the trade routes into
China from Mandalay[19].
4.29 Prostitution is endemic in Thailand. There are estimated to be between
800,000 and 2 million people employed in the sex industry in Thailand [20].
It is stimulated mostly by local demand and traditional practice [21] but
also by tourism[22]. The number of women from Burma involved in
prostitution was conservatively estimated at between 20,000 and 40,000 at
any one time. The trade operates through agents on both side of the border
who pay an amount up to the equivalent of $A500 to the girl's family. This
becomes the basis of debt bondage for the girl who must pay back this
amount and any further expenses she incurs while living in the brothel. The
girls generally do not understand the terms of their debt of the amount
owing. They receive little or no payment[23]. In the Asia/Watch study, the
youngest interviewed was 12 and the oldest was 23. They usually stay in the
brothel network for at least two to three years. Young girls from the more
remote rural regions are sought after as they are believed to be free of
infection and easier to control[24]. However, among those tested, 50 to 70
per cent were HIV positive. Conditions inside the brothels are appalling,
including barbed wire and electric fences.
4.30 Beside debt bondage, the girls are kept in prostitution by physical
intimidation, their ignorance of where they are , the lack of Thai
language, the corruption of officials and their fear of authorities because
of their illegal status in Thailand.
4.31 Despite the formal illegality of the trafficking, there is
considerable official connivance and even involvement in it. Agents come
into Burmese villages and make payments to parents, offering to find work
for their children. There are also documented cases of physical force being
used to coerce women to go along with agents. They bring them to the border
and arrange with other agents to bring them further into Thailand. The
Committee was told that:
The agents have very sophisticated arrangements with the Thai
police. In many instances, the girls could document instances of
being transported into Thailand with policemen in uniform, armed
and often in police vehicles [25].
Once in Thailand the brothels were under the protection and had the
patronage of the police.
She saw police in all the brothels in which she worked. They seemed
to know the owners very well and were often around with their
uniforms, guns and wolkie talkies. They also often took the girls
to the rooms or out for the whole night. ... In Klong Yai the
police had special arrangements with the owner and could take the
girls for free [26].
4.32 The Government of Thailand is not a party to the international human
rights conventions relevant to the problems of trafficking [27], with the
exception of the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW). However domestic Thai law does address the question
comprehensively. Until 1960 prostitution was legal in Thailand although
controlled by a system of licences and fees; however, the 1928
Anti-Trafficking Act made trafficking in women illegal. The 'Suppression of
Prostitution Act, 1960,' outlawed prostitution and penalised both
prostitutes and those who procured prostitutes or benefited from their
exploitation. The 'Thai Penal Code 1956' also prohibited procurement for
the purpose of prostitution and provided haeavy penalities.
4.33 The problem does not seem to lie in a failure of the laws but in a
failure to apply the laws. In 1991 the Thai Government announced a
crackdown on prostitution and trafficking. A number of raids has been made
on establishments revealing the extent of the trafficking problem:
approximately 30-40 percent [28] of the women and children rescued from
brothels were from Burma. As a result of the crackdown the women were
deported or sent to penal reform institutions such as Ban Pakkret, an
island in the Chao Pharaya River just outside Bangkok. It is one of four
institutions for the reform of prostitutes.
4.34 Collusion, bribery and immunity from prosecution have undermined the
Government's intentions to stop the trafficking. For all the efforts of the
Government of Thailand, Asia/Watch has concluded that:
the trafficking of Burmese women and girls in Thailand continues,
virtually unchecked. Moreover despite clear evidence that the Thai
law enforcement and immigration officials remain directly involved
in the flesh trade, not a single officer has been prosecuted or
punished for such abuse. Brothel owners, pimps and recruiters have
been largely exempt from punishment. In fact the main targets of
the Chaun administration's crackdown on forced and child
prostitution have been the victims themselves [29].
4.35 The women and girls from Burma who are victims of trafficking are
arrested as prostitutes or illegal immigrants, detained in penal servitude
in reform institutions, suffer mistreatment, abuse and extortion in
detention and they are deported with little concern for the conseqences on
their return to Burma.
On their first day in the Kanchanaburi goal, all of the women
inmates [Burmese deportees] from the Immigration Detention Centre
were asked to pay 100 baht ($4). If they said the had no money, the
police 'checked them out' touching all over their bodies. If they
found any money, watches or valuables, they took them. ...One night
a policemen came to the women's cell and asked for Maw Maw. Muyar
felt very forry for Maw Maw and dkwe she could not speak Thai so
she told the policeman that Maw Maw was very sick and could not get
up. The policeman told Muyar to come down instead. Muyar refused.
The policeman then entered the cell, pulled her out and beat her
until she agreed to come down [30].
4.36 In Burma, the fate of the deportees is uncertain. The border areas are
unsafe because of the fighting. Moreover, the women are liable to fines or
imprisonment either for illegally leaving the country, a breach of the
Burmese 'Immigration and Manpower Act', or for prostitution which is
illegal in Burma. The Government of Burma has given guarantees to the
Government of Thailand that it offers rehabilitation programs to women
being returned from prostitution in Thailand; however no monitoring of this
has been possible.
4.37 This a humanitarian problem of considerable proportions, which would
appear to require cooperation at an international level.
4.38 The Committee recommends that:
10. THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT URGE THE GOVERNMENT OF THAILAND TO:
(A) RETIFY THE INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS CONVENTIONS RELEVANT TO
THE ISSUE OF TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN, PARTICULARLY THE ICCPR;
(B) IMPLEMENT THE PROVISIONS OF ITS EXISTING ANTI-PROSTITUTION
LEGISLATION BY INSTITUTING PROSECUTIONS AGAINST THOSE WHO TRAFFIC
IN WOMEN AND GIRLS FOR THE PURPOSES OF PROSTITUTION AND ANY POLICE
OR ARMY OFFICERS ASSISTING IN THE TRADE;
(C) ENSURE THAT THE VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING, WOMEN, GIRLS AND YOUNG
MEN, ARE PROTECTED AND REHABILITATED AND THAT SUPPORT FOR THAILAND
IN THIS ENDEAVOUR SHOULD BECOME A FOCUS OF THE AUSTRALIAN AID
PROGRAM TO THAILAND.
4.39 The Committee also endorses the recommendation in Chapter 13 of its
report on Australia's Relation with Thailand dealing with AusAID support
for community-based programs in this area.
Trafficking to Australia
4.40 Trafficking in women does not confine itself to Burma and Thailand. It
is an international trade which affects most countries. It is associated
with a variety of social ills and criminal activity - the spread of
HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, drug trafficking, forgery
of documents, official corruption, taxation offences and money laundering,
illegal immigration, violence and kidnapping. It is a lucrative trade
making millions of dollars for the networks of criminals involved in it.
4.41 It was reported to the Committee that there was significant, organised
trafficking of women into Australia linked to suspected drug traffickers.
Women are brought to the country on falsified passports often escorted by
men posing as husbands or boyfriends. They were often indebted to the
organisers for large amounts of money for passport and travel costs
-$A15,000 to $A18,000. Their movement in Australia was restricted by heavy
security and it appeared that some were being kept against their will. It
was estimated that at any one time there might be 200 Asian prostitutes
working in Australia. The main centre appears to be Sydney where there were
at least 20 brothels, and probably more, associated with Asian prostitution
but brothels in Victoria, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory
were also involved [31].
4.42 Australia is a signatory to a number of United Nations conventions and
treaties [32] relating to the trafficking of women and girls. However,
although there is considerable legislation which addresses the attendant
criminal activity associated with the trade, there is no legislation which
covers trafficking as such.
4.43 The Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs reported that,
between 1993 and 1995, 120 women had been apprehended. The Department hoted
that in no way are these figures representative of the total number of
women being brought into Australia as many evade detention. As in Thailand,
the women are in breach of immigration laws and therefore they are liable
to visa cancellation, removal, deportation or prosecution. Those who are
detained under the Migration Act are accmmodated in Immigration Detention
Centres (IDC) located in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. The Department told
the Committee that at the Immigration Detention Centres medical
assessments, including assessments of those suffering mental trauma, are
made and female interpreters are supplied. However those being deported are
only held for a couple of days while travel arrangements are made for them.
If women apply for a protection visa, they are not held in detention and
they receive a bridging visa and are usually granted permission to
work [33].
4.44 The Committee recommends that:
11. THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL'S DEPARTMENT, IN COORDINATION WITH OTHER
RELEVANT STATE AND FEDERAL AGENCIES,
(A) REVIEW ALL LEGISLATION RELATING TO PROSTITUTION IN AUSTRALIA;
(B) CONSIDER THE NEED TO ENACT LEGISLATION WHICH WOULD TARGET
TRAFFICKERS IN WOMEN AND CHILDREN;
4.45 The Committee recommends that:
12. THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT
(A) CONSIDER ACCESSION, PERHAPS WITH A RESERVATION ON ARTICLE 6, TO
THE 1949 'CONVENTION FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF THE TRAFFIC IN PERSONS
AND THE EXPLOITATION OF THE PROSTITUTION OF OTHERS;'
(B) ENCOURAGE AUSTRALIAN EMBASSIES TO MAINTAIN TIGHT VISA AND
PASSPORT PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES WITH A VIEW TO LIMITING FRAUD;
(C) OFFER ASSISTANCE TO REGIONAL COUNTRIES TO IMPROVE THE SECURITY
OF THEIR PASSPORTS;
(D) PUT IN PLACE PROGRAMS WHICH WOULD RECOGNISE AUSTRALIA'S
RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE PROTECTION AND REHABILITATION OF THE
VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING; AND,
(E) CONSIDER THIS AS A FACTOR IN ANY APPLICATION WHICH IS MADE FOR
A HUMANITARIAN VISA.
Environmental Rights
4.46 Burma is fertile, rich in minerals, gems and forests and it is a
largely undeveloped country. The Government of Burma has signed the Vienna
Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change and the UN Convention on Biodiversity and it
has set up a National Commission for Environmental Affairs. However, since
the economic changes began in Burma in the late 80s there have been
complaints that the approach to the development of Burma's resources has
been uncontrolled, exploitative and without any consideration of the wishes
or concerns of the local people.
4.47 The specific areas of environmental concern include:
* Fisheries: SLORC has sold large fishing concessions in the
Andaman Sea to Thailand and the Thais have used modern trawler
fleets [34] to work these areas. The local, traditional fishermen
complain that large areas of the sea have been fished out.
* Deforestation: The rapid depletion of the great forests of Burma
has probably been the most constant complaint about the
exploitation of resources [35]. The deforestation rate has been
calculated at 800,000 to one million hectres a year, one of the
five highest in the world [36]. Large numbers of timber concessions
have been given in cross border deals to commercial logging
interests, often military based companies, from Thailand, china and
India. The complaints have centred on the rate of extraction and
clear felling techinques leaving large areas of land open to
flooding [37] and the involvement of illegal operators resulting in
much greater clearances than agreed.
* Large infrastructure projects: While Burma is badly in need of
infrastructure, the scale and nature of many developments - the oil
and gas pipeline, hydroelectric schemes etc. - are put in place not
only without local consultation but as a result of forced
relocation of very large numbers of people [38]. Tourism
developments have been criticised for the same reasons. Since 1989
over 200,000 people have been relocated from Rangoon to new
satellite towns; 5,000 inhabitants were moved by soldiers from
Pagan in 1990. Despoilation of historic monuments, notably the
Kentung Palace in November 1991, have brought objections from the
Shan people. Critics of the demolition were severely dealt with at
the time [39].
* Chemical Weapons: There have also been alarming but unverified
stories about the use of defoliants, chemical weapons and bacterial
or virual substances in the border wars. The latest reports tell of
burning substances being used in the attack on Kawmoora in February
1995 [40]. However the UN Chemical Weapons convention completely
prohibits the manufacture, possession and use of chemical weapons.
4.48 The Committee recommends that:
13. THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT URGE THE GOVERNMENT OF BURMA TO ACCEDE TO
THE UN CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION.
Footnotes:
---------
[17] Various estimates of the numbers of illegal Burmese working in
Thailand were given to the Committee. Some submissions put the figure at
300,000. Thai Government officials suggest a range from 200,000 to 500,000.
See Exhibit No 30, Asia Watch, 'A Modern Form of Slavery: Trafficking of
Burmese women and Girls into Brothels in Thailand', p.17.
[18] Quoted from Exhibit No 30, Asia/Watch, op.cit. p.14.
[19] Evidence, 19 May 1995, p.174.
[20] Exhibit No 30, p. 16.
[21] Pyne's study, referred to above, found that 75% of Thai men had had
sex with a prostitute, 48% experienced their first sexual intercourse with
a prostitute. Exhibit No 30., p. 16.
[22] Steven Schlosstein,'Asia's New Litle Dragons', Contemporary Books
(Chicago, 1991) pp. 196-97 notes that of 4.3 million people who visited
Thailand in 1988, three-quarters were unaccompanied men. Quoted from
Exhibit No 30, p.16.
[23] A typical scenario presented to the Committee was that girls would
serve six to ten clients a day, twenty-five days a month, earning for the
owner between $A600 and $A2500 per month for which they paid the girls
approximately $A1 per day or$A25 per month.
[24] In-camera evidence, 5 May 1995, pp.31-44.
[25] In-camera evidence, 5 May 1995, p.31.
[26] Exhibit No 30, p.39.
[27] Including the 'International Convention for the Suppression of the
White Slave Traffic' and the 'Final Protocol.', 8 February 1913.
[28] In come cases, depending on the location of the brothel, the
percentage was even higher. Pyne lists over 200 of 342 women as Burmese in
1991 raids. Exhibit No 30. p.31.
[29] Exhibit No 30., p.36.
[30] ibid., p. 105.
[31] Confidential submission.
[32] But not the 1949 'Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in
Person and the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others' which in Article
6 would require the repeal of any law subjecting prostitution to
registration, a requirement which runs counter to current State and
Territory legislation.
[33] Department of Immigration supplementary submission.
[34] The first concessions were sold in 1989. Contracts in November 1993
licensed 280 boats from a further eight Thai companies.
[35] In 1948 there was an estimated forest cover of 500,000 square
kilometeres or 70% of Burma's land area. Today SLORC officials say there is
50% forest cover; other estimates put the percentage at 30%. Exhibit No 1a,
Article 19, International Centre against Censorship, "Paradise Lost: The
Suppression of environmental Rights and Freedom of Expression in Burma ",
p. 12.
[36] ibid., p. 12.
[37] In Kachin State 100 villagers died in floods in 1991 which were blamed
on the deforestation in the area. Similarly in south east Burma 60
villagers have lost their lives.
[38] See Chapter 2 and other sections of this chapter.
[39] Exhibit No 1a, op.cit. pp. 23-26.
[40] Tribal Refugee Welfare supplementary submission, pp. S800-08.
ENDS(4.28-4.48)\