111 human traffickers charged in Myanmar in five months

The porous Thai-Myanmar border allows traffickers to ferry their cargo of victims,unnoticed by the authorities.

YANGON (Xinhua): A total of 111 traffickers were charged in connection with human trafficking cases across Myanmar in five months this year, official media reported Thursday (June 18).

As of May this year, Myanmar logged 43 cases of human trafficking in the country's regions and states, the anti-trafficking police force was quoted as saying.

During the five-month period, 77 people including 11 children were victimised.

Yangon region registered most trafficking cases with 14 cases, followed by Shan state with 10 cases, Mandalay with six cases, among others.

Forced marriage, forced labour and illegal adoption were blamed for the cause of human trafficking in the country.

According to figures released by the Anti-Trafficking Police Force, 732 traffickers were charged in connection with 239 human trafficking cases in which 358 people were victimised last year.

Under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Law, people who smuggle women and children are sentenced to at least 10 years or up to lifetime sentence or fine while money or property received through trafficking will be confiscated by the government. - Xinhua