Political and social reforms in Myanmar have done little to stop horrific child labour abuses, human rights groups say.
SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS: An ethnic child beggar in Mae Sai, opposite Myanmar’s Tachilek town. Research indicates that migrant children are often forced to beg by their parents. PHOTOS: SAW YAN NAING
Just weeks after the US State Department released a damning report declaring Thailand to be an international human trafficking hub, more claims of trafficking are being aired.
Htoo Chit, the senior adviser for the Foundation for Education and Development, a Myanmar NGO that provides assistance to migrants in Thailand, with a focus on child protection, said an estimated one-fifth of the Kingdom's total Myanmar migrant labour force consists of children. This is based on monthly reports monitoring the parents of migrant children.
One of the most heart-rending cases that received mass media attention was the plight of Air, a 12-year-old ethnic Karen girl who for five years was put to work by a Thai couple who tortured her and forced her to sleep in a cage with dogs.
Air escaped from the sadistic couple on Jan 31 in Kamphaeng Phet in northwestern Thailand, but there are thousands of children who don't get that chance.
FROM HELL AND BACK: ‘Air’, the 12-year-old Karen girl who was kidnapped, enslaved and tortured by a Kamphaeng Phet couple, at Ramathibodi Hospital earlier this year. PHOTO: PATTANAPONG HIRUNARD
The US Trafficking in Persons report presented scathing claims of corrupt practices involving human trafficking in Thailand. The report said brothels and other sweatshops were protected from raids.
The Foundation for Education and Development estimated 20% of about three million working Myanmar migrants are children.
Htoo Chit said: "Some Thai employers are still using child labour because they don't need to provide adult salaries, and children are easier to control.
"A large number of migrant child workers were found working along with adult migrants."
He said that even though Thailand has an adequate child protection policy in place _ the same labour laws apply to both migrant and Thai children _ employers still use underage labour.
He identified some work places where child labour was common: laundries, car washes, gas stations, restaurants _ both in cooking and dishwashing _ fisheries, as well as the textile, garment and canning industries. Agriculture, transportation, tourism and construction are among the main sectors using child labour, he said.
Htoo Chit said that for children living in Myanmar, the economic and political reforms within their country have not brought any benefits.
"It's very easy to see child labour in Myanmar, especially in tea shops, restaurants, garment factories and many are hired as domestic workers," he said. "I do not see any changes resulting from political reforms in Myanmar."
He said that despite the reforms migrants from Myanmar continue to cross the Thai border, some of them through arrangements made with labour agents.
Faced with dismal employment prospects at home, many migrants leap at the chance to work in Thailand where they can earn substantially more money.
Naw Paw, a 13-year-old ethnic Karen girl from Hlaing Bwe township who is working at a restaurant in Mae Sot on the border with Myawaddy said that she earns 3,000 baht a month in Thailand. That is about three times as much the 20,000 to 50,000 kyat (about 930 to 1,240 baht) a month child workers earn in Myanmar.
SEEKING SYMPATHY: A woman begs with her children in Mae Sai. A significant proportion of Myanmar children working in Thailand are beggars.
''I came to work here because I have to support my family in Myanmar,'' Naw Paw said. ''I left school because my parents could no longer afford to pay for it. Now I send about 2,000 baht home every month.
''My boss provides me with accommodation and meals, so I don't need to spend much. I save as much money as I can and send it to my parents,'' she said, adding that she spends only 1,000 baht a month on personal expenses.
NGOs and human rights groups underscore the point that despite Myanmar opening its doors to international investors and it becoming a prime destination for trade, the problem of child labour remains rampant.
The old practice of using child labour in tea shops, restaurants, massage parlours, karaoke bars and brothels remains commonplace. Underage workers can be found throughout the country, from the big cities to rural areas.
On June 12, the World Day Against Child Labour, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) reported that there are an estimated 10.5 million children worldwide under the age of 15 being forced to work as domestic labourers. The ILO said they are either underpaid or receive nothing.
In Myanmar, it is illegal to employ children aged under 15. Under the colonial-era Factory Act, employees from 15 to 18 are allowed to work no more than four hours a day, but young labourers in the country are routinely forced to work beyond that.
However, many children in Myanmar were encouraged or even forced by their parents to work inside the country while others risked their lives to cross the border into Thailand. NGOs estimate about 20 children cross the Thai-Myanmar border every month to seek jobs.
Chiang Rai Rajabhat University researcher Penpisut Jaisanit was part of a study that examined the child labour situation in northern Thailand near the border with Myanmar's Shan State. The study involved 603 child labourers, the majority of whom were from Myanmar, while others were from Laos and Thai hill tribes.
''We found that ethnic children were forced to beg by their parents, especially in Mae Sai,'' Mr Penpisut said. ''If they cannot collect enough money they are punished. Some girls under the age of 15 work in 'entertainment centres' and are sexually harassed at an age when they should be in school.''
The study identified three main categories of child labour: domestic service, work in karaoke bars and restaurants, and begging. Girls working as domestic servants comprised the majority of child workers, about 78%. Of these, 95% received less then 4,000 baht a month.
The majority reported that they were physically and verbally abused.
Mr Penpisut said that children were also mistreated in other areas of the country. For example, some Myanmar migrant children were sold to fishing boat operators in southern coastal provinces in Thailand who prevented them from returning home.
Myanmar signed the 2004 UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime.
In 2007, the country also established its own anti-trafficking taskforce, which has rescued 1,700 victims since then.
Despite such successes, criticisms abound that the government is not doing enough to combat trafficking and that the practice is flourishing in the country.
Rights groups suggest some Myanmar officials are involved in the trade themselves.
HOPING FOR A HAND OUT: Right, a mother and her two children take their spot to beg money from passersby in Mae
In December 2008, the Thai and Myanmar governments came up with the National Verification registration programme which they claimed would improve the living conditions of migrants and allow them to travel between the countries with greater ease.
The authorities released temporary passports to those who completed the correct paperwork.
However, many migrant workers were hesitant to provide details about themselves, fearing that doing so would endanger themselves or their families in Myanmar.
Some complained they had to pay a significant amount before receiving the temporary passports. Many risked their lives by crossing Thai-Myanmar border illegally with the help of smugglers and agents. Illegal entry is fraught with danger, and accidents or incidents involving Thai border guard officers are common.
In late May, at least 12 Myanmar migrant workers drowned off Thailand's southwestern coast when boats smuggling them from Kawthaung, Myanmar's southernmost town in Tenasserim Division, to Ranong province, sank.
''Many migrants are still using the old tactic of crossing the Thai-Myanmar border illegally by boats, with the help of smugglers,'' a police officer in Kawthaung said.
The Trafficking in Persons report condemned the Thai government for failing to provide specialist services for child sex trafficking victims, and for doing too little to protect the rights of those rescued from the trade.
Rights advocacy groups also say that political instability in Myanmar is a major reason why so many children in Myanmar go into hard labour.
On June 5, the Kachin Women's Association Thailand (Kwat), a human rights advocacy group, released a report titled ''Pushed to the Brink'' which said that the civil war in Kachin State, northern Myanmar, has pushed the human trafficking trade into China.
Young women and girls displaced by the conflict constitute the highest percentage of victims. They were tricked, drugged, raped and sold to Chinese men or families as brides or bonded labourers for as much as 40,000 yuan (200,000 baht) per person, according to the Kwat report said.
The report uncovered 24 cases of actual or suspected human trafficking in Kachin border areas since hostilities between the government army and the rebel Kachin Independence Army broke out in June 2011. Trafficked girls and women ended up as far east as Shandong and Fujian provinces, the report said.
Kwat spokeswoman Julia Marip said: ''They [girls and children] go to work in China with the help of their respective contacts. They are then cheated and trafficked into China. Many children who should be in schools have to labour for their daily survival.''
ON THEIR OWN: A young migrant worker prepares dinner at a makeshift camp in the San Kamphaeng district of Chiang Mai province.
WAITING ON CHANGE: Above, a young boy works in a tea shop in Yangon. Underage workers are common in the service sector.