Submitted by crinadmin on
Summary: Thousands of Burmese women and girls
are trafficked into Thai brothels every
year where they work under conditions
tantamount to slavery. Thousands of Burmese women and girls are trafficked into Thai
brothels every year where they work under conditions tantamount to
slavery. Subject to debt bondage, illegal confinement, various forms
of sexual and physical abuse, and exposure to HIV in the brothels,
they then face wrongful arrest as illegal immigrants if they try to
escape or if the brothels are raided by Thai police. Once arrested,
the women and girls may be subjected to further sexual abuse in Thai
detention centers. After their deportation to the Thai-Burmese border
where they are often lured back into prostitution by brothel agents
who play on their fear of arrest on return to Burma. Thai police and
border patrol officials are involved in both the trafficking and the
brothel operations, but they routinely escape punishment as, for the
most part, do brothel agents, owners, pimps and clients. A Modern
Form of Slavery, based on in-depth interviews with Burmese
trafficking victims, documents the violations of internationally-
recognized human rights committed against them. It also presents
detailed recommendations to the Thai and Burmese governments and the
international community for improving the protection of the women and
girls and ensuring the prosecution of their abusers.