Pisey's Paper

Chapter 1

Introduction

Overview
Many leaders around ASEAN countries have concerned about the Trafficking in person in theirs, which has threatened lives to people. The six countries in the Sub-region—Cambodia, China, Lao, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam joined a meeting on December 14th, 2007, in Beijing, which was organized the office of National Working Committee for Children and Women under the State Council, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ministry of Commerce. Nearly 200 delegates attended the meeting, including ministers on anti-trafficking. Officials from ten embassies of ASEAN residing in China, relevant international organizations, NGOs, donor countries and related Chinese ministries on anti-trafficking human participated in it as well[1].
The gravest crime of trafficking in person (TIP) has been continuously occurred in countries to others. Perpetrators who are political members and are almost utmost high ranking officials are of impunity, for some judiciary systems are under the umbrella of political parties. In most cases, prosecution does not dare to take action. To combat and take step to reduce or prevent TIP is to prosecute criminals.
Purpose of Study
The study is aimed at discovering position whose TIP China, Cambodia, and Burma. Country of China is selected to be the founded country for the comparison to the other two above mentioned countries that are as similar as China with human rights violation. The study will inquiry into effective actions on TIP that China has taken by its government.

Methodology
The secondary data, which are the reports from U.A. Department of State and Human Rights Organization—the reports are of the same website; the website on China's report is presented in footnote[2]—, are principal taken to be information for study to explore situations for analysis. The reports were released in 2006. The population of each country is used for the comparison, either.

Definition of Trafficking in Person
The Secretary of State submits the annual "Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000: Trafficking in Persons Report" to Congress. This report covers "severe forms of trafficking in persons" defined as:
"(a) sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age; or (b) the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery."[3]

















Chapter 2

Trafficking in Persons
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2006Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and LaborMarch 6, 2007
China (includes Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau)
Although the law prohibits human trafficking, trafficking in persons remained a serious problem. The country was both a source and destination country for trafficking in persons. Most trafficking was internal for the purposes of forced labor and forced marriage. Some cases involved trafficking of women and girls into forced prostitution in urban areas, and some reports suggested that certain victims, especially children, were sold into forced labor. In many cases, women and children were lured abroad with false promises of employment and then trafficked into prostitution or forced labor.
Some experts and NGOs suggested that a shortage of marriageable women fueled the demand for abducted women, especially in rural areas. They argued that the serious imbalance in the male-female sex ratio at birth, the tendency for many village women to leave rural areas to seek employment, and the cost of traditional betrothal gifts all made purchasing a wife attractive to some poor rural men. Some men recruited women from poorer regions, while others sought help from criminal gangs. Criminal gangs either kidnapped women and girls or tricked them with promises of jobs and higher living standards, only to be transported far from their homes for delivery to buyers. Once in their new "family," these women were "married" and sometimes raped. Some accepted their fate and joined the new community; others struggled and were punished; a few escaped. Some former trafficking victims became traffickers themselves, lured by the prospect of financial gain.
According to UN reports, most women and girls trafficked from abroad came from North Korea and Vietnam. Others came from Burma, Laos, Russia, and Ukraine. They were trafficked into the country for sexual exploitation, forced marriage, and indentured servitude in domestic service or businesses. Past reports noted that trafficking of North Korean women and girls into the country to work in the sex industry was widespread in the northeastern part of the country, but reliable sources suggested that the practice has decreased. The UN reported that Chinese citizens were most often trafficked to Malaysia, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Second-tier destinations included Australia, European countries, Canada, Japan, Italy, Burma, Singapore, South Africa, and Taiwan.
Kidnapping and the buying and selling of children for adoption continued, particularly in poor rural areas. There were no reliable estimates of the number of children trafficked. Domestically, most trafficked children were sold to couples unable to have children, particularly sons. In the past, most infants rescued were male, but increased demand for children has reportedly driven traffickers to focus on females as well.
Children were also trafficked from poorer interior areas to relatively more prosperous areas for work. Traffickers reportedly often enticed parents to relinquish their children with promises of large remittances their children would be able to send home. Some children worked in factories but many ended up under the control of local gangs and were induced to commit petty crimes such as purse snatching.[4]
Burma
Although there are laws specifically prohibiting child prostitution and child pornography, they were not enforced effectively. Trafficking, including of children, continued, but there were no reliable statistics regarding its extent. Government data showed that Thailand was the primary destination for trafficking victims, with much smaller numbers going directly to China, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Korea, and Macau.
Trafficking of women and girls to Thailand, China, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Korea, Japan, and countries in the Middle East for sexual exploitation, factory labor, and as household servants remained a problem. Shan and other ethnic minority women and girls were trafficked across the border from the north; Karen and Mon women and girls were trafficked from the south. There was evidence that internal trafficking generally occurred from poor agricultural and urban centers to areas where prostitution flourished (trucking routes, mining areas, military bases, and industrial estates) as well as along the borders with Thailand and China. Men and boys also reportedly were trafficked to other countries for sexual exploitation and labor. While most observers believed that the number of these victims was at least several thousand per year, there were no reliable estimates.
Human traffickers appeared to be primarily free lance, small scale operators using village contacts to feed victims to more established trafficking brokers. Brokers were primarily foreign, but some Burmese brokers operated in Thailand and China.
Officials recognized the importance of preventing cross border trafficking and prosecuting traffickers, but they did little to combat domestic trafficking and took no action on forced labor. The government worked with the UN Inter Agency Project on Human Trafficking to sponsor seminars for national, state/division, and lower level authorities and received training from the Asia Regional Trafficking in Persons Project. New government guidelines issued early in the year reduced the abilities of many international NGOs, including those working on trafficking issues, to implement and monitor programs; however, many activities were allowed to continue. In January the government signed the ASEAN Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Agreement. Cooperation with Thailand and China on enforcement and repatriation continued to increase.
UN agencies and NGOs credited the government for demonstrating political will to combat cross border trafficking and for improving cooperation with the international community. The government increased the size of the antitrafficking unit from 40 to 65 officers.
During the year the government hosted national and state/division level seminars to inform officials from relevant ministries about the antitrafficking law enacted in September 2005. The government established a working group that began to revise the national action plan to reflect the 2005 law.
Although there are laws specifically prohibiting child prostitution and child pornography, they were not enforced effectively. Trafficking, including of children, continued, but there were no reliable statistics regarding its extent. Government data showed that Thailand was the primary destination for trafficking victims, with much smaller numbers going directly to China, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Korea, and Macau.[5]
Cambodia
The law prohibits trafficking in persons; however, the country was a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for sexual exploitation and labor. A 2003 study estimated the number of trafficking victims in the sex industry to be 2,000 victims, approximately 80 percent of whom were Vietnamese women and girls. Some Vietnamese women and girls were trafficked through the country for exploitation in the commercial sex trade in other Asian countries.
Children were trafficked to Thailand and Vietnam for begging, soliciting, street vending, and flower selling. The children frequently were placed into debt bondage to beg or sell, or they formed part of organized begging rings even when there was no debt or economic hardship involved. A MOSAVY study found that 76 percent of trafficked persons returned from Thailand came from families who owned land, 93 percent owned their own house and had no debt on the land or house, and 47 percent stated that their mother was the facilitator. There was an increase in the trafficking of women to Malaysia to work in the sex industry.
Local traffickers covered specific small geographic areas and acted as middlemen for larger trafficking networks. Organized crime groups, employment agencies, and marriage brokers were believed to have some degree of involvement. Traffickers used a variety of methods to acquire victims. In many cases victims were lured by promises of legitimate employment. In other cases acquaintances, friends, and family members sold the victims or received payment for helping deceive them. Young children, the majority of them girls, were often "pledged" as collateral for loans by desperately poor parents; the children were responsible for repaying the loan and the accumulating interest.
While the government increased arrests and prosecutions of traffickers and continued its support for prevention and protection programs through collaboration with foreign and domestic NGOs and international organizations, its antitrafficking efforts continued to be hampered by reports of corruption and a weak judicial system. It was widely believed that some law enforcement and other government officials received bribes that facilitated the sex trade and trafficking in persons.
In August the Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted three police officers for trafficking related corruption committed in 2005, gave them sentences of five to seven years in prison, and ordered the return of $9,000 (37.8 million riel) extorted from brothel owners in Kampong Speu Province. One of the convicted officers began serving his sentence, but the MOI stated that the other two officers would have to be formally removed from their positions before they were arrested and made to serve jail terms.
Several government ministries were active in combating trafficking. There was a Department of Anti Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection, and mechanisms existed for monitoring and reporting on child sexual exploitation. There also were specialized MOI antitrafficking divisions in all provinces and municipalities.[6]











Chapter 3

Population

China
China's population, now officially at 1.3 billion, will continue to increase by about 10 million a year and reach a peak of 1.46 billion in the mid-2030s. This creates two problems for China: the expanding working-age population will put enormous pressure on the economy to create jobs, and the aging population will strain government resources such as health care[7]. The number of population is 1,321,851,888 (2007)[8].
Burma
The Burma's population is now 42,238,224[9].

Cambodia
The total number of population of Cambodia is 13, 363,421[10].










Chapter 4

Actions Taken
China
Between 2001 and 2005, police opened more than 28,000 trafficking cases, the Chinese government arrested more than 25,000 suspected traffickers, and rescued more than 35,000 victims. During 2006, China the police investigated 3,371 trafficking cases; provincial governments arrested 371 victims and arrested 415 traffickers. China also cooperated with Vietnamese, Thai and Burmese authorities to rescue victims[11].
Burma
The Burmese has taken steps to increase its arrests, prosecutions, convictions for trafficking. In 2006, the ruling junta reported that its police identified over 400 traffickers in 191 cases, and convicted 53 traffickers with sentences ranging from five years to life imprisonment. Authorities report that over 90 women from Ruili were sold into the P.R.C. as forced brides, arrested 34 suspects, and rescued 17 victims. In January 2007, police arrested an additional 47 suspected traffickers[12].
Cambodia
According to the Cambodian Ministry of Interior, the police arrested 65 people for human trafficking, and 53 were convicted with penalties ranging from 5 to 24 years of imprisonment in 2006. An anti-trafficking NGO reported the arrests of 21 people and 28 convicted with penalties ranging from 1 to 19 years of imprisonment, and civil compensation ranging from 3 million and 10 million riels ($750-2,500) to the victims.
In 2006, the government prosecuted several police officials for trafficking-related corruption charges. The former Deputy Director of the Police Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Department was convicted for complicity in trafficking and sentenced to five years' imprisonment; two officials under his supervision were also convicted and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. Police arrested two military officers and one member of the military police for running brothels and trafficking; one was sentenced to a five-year suspended sentence and fined five million riels ($1,250). In 2006, 13 foreign child sex tourists were arrested by the Cambodian police and three were convicted, with sentences ranging from 1 to 18 years' imprisonment. Cambodia continued to assist U.S. law enforcement authorities in the transfer to U.S. custody of Americans who have sexually exploited children in Cambodia. During the past year, Cambodia coordinated the deportation of one American national who was accused of child sex tourism for prosecution in the United States under the extraterritorial provisions of the U.S. Government's PROTECT Act. Additionally, Cambodia assisted in the deportation of two other American nationals with outstanding U.S. charges for child sexual exploitation and child pornography[13].




















Chapter 5

Analysis

5.1. Action taken by China
As describing in chapter 3, the number of population is 1,321,851,888. China’s government arrested 415 traffickers. To compare China to Burma, the total of china’s population is assumed 100 per cent; and the 415 traffickers—mentioned in chapter4— are equal to 100 per cent, too. One per cent of the total of China’s population is (1,321,851,888 divided with 100%) 1,321,851,8.88. This amount of number (1, 321, 851, 8. 88) is equal 1%. The total of 415 traffickers arrested by China’s government is 100%, so 1% is of 415 divided with 100% (415:100=) 4.15%--traffickers arrested.

5.2. Action taken by Burma
In chapter 3, the total of Burma's population is 42,238,224. This amount of 42,238,224 is assumedly equal 100 per cent So in 1% is (42,238,224:100=) 422, 382.24. Chapter 4 provides the total number of arrested traffickers of 400, which is assumed of 100%. And 1% is 4 traffickers. Among 422, 382.24 traffickers, Burma’s government took action in arresting 4 traffickers.

5.3. Action taken by Cambodia
The total number of population of Cambodia is 13, 363,421, which is described in chapter 3. To make the comparison, the amount of number of the total population of 13, 363,421 is equal to 100%. One per cent is (13, 363,421: 100=) 133634.21. 65 traffickers were arrested, which is equal to 100%; and 1% is of (65: 100=) 0.65 traffickers.

5.4. Comparison to Burma
Among 1,321,851,8.88, which is one per cent, China’s government took action in arresting 4.15 traffickers; however, Among 422, 382.24 traffickers, Burma’s government took action in arresting 4 traffickers.

5.5. Comparison to Cambodia
Among 1,321,851,8.88, which is one per cent, China’s government took action in arresting 4.15 traffickers; Cambodia took action 0.65 traffickers.

Conclusion
Country of China has to have more and more political commitment to combat TIP in order to reduce the violent crime, which threats people’s lives around the world.


[1] http://www.china.org.cn/english/government/235708.htm (Date of visit January 31 2008)
[2] http://www.humantrafficking.org/countries/china (Date of visit January 31 2008)

[3] http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/ (Date of visit January 31 2008)
[4] http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78771.htm
[5] http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78768.htm (Date of visit Jan.31, 2008)
[6] http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78769.htm
[7] http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb3211/is_200412/ai_n18529413 (Date of visit Feb.1, 2008)
[8] http://wikitravel.org/en/China#Regions (Cited on Feb. 01, 2008)
[9] http://www.multied.com/nationbynation/Burma/Population.html
[10] http://athaia.org/cambodia-population.html
[11] http://www.humantrafficking.org/countries/china
[12] http://www.humantrafficking.org/countries/burma
[13] http://www.humantrafficking.org/countries/cambodia