Myanmar, US 'to fight trafficking'
- Published: 19 Nov 2012 at 14.36
- Online news: Asia
PHNOM PENH - Myanmar has declared its cooperation to combat human trafficking with the United States during US President Barrack Obama's historical visit to the country Monday.
The two governments "affirm their commitment to the global effort to combat human trafficking, a modern form of slavery that afflicts both of our nations; recognising the requirements and provisions of the United Nations Protocol to Suppress, Punish, and Prevent Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the 2000 UN Convention on Transnational Organised Crime; acknowledging the progress made by the government of Myanmar in addressing sex trafficking and forced labour over the last two years" said a document obtained on Sunday night.
The positive developments included the repealing of the 1907 Towns and Villages Acts, which provided legal condoning of the government officials' use forced labour; the enactment of the 2012 Wards and Village Tracts Administration Act, which explicitly criminalises all forms of forced labour; the forging with the International Labor Organisation of a time-bound, comprehensive action plan to tackle forced labour in Myanmar; the opening of two additional border liaison offices on the Thai border to prevent cross-border trafficking; and the signing of a child soldiers action plan with the UN that calls for the release of child soldiers from the Myanmar armed forces and access to military sites and prisons to inspect for the presence of child soldiers, the documents said.
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