Shan people increasingly vulnerable to trafficking

The situation for the Shan people in Burma is worsening with many more people becoming displaced as the Burmese army attacks insurgents near the border with Thailand. The NGO Human Rights Watch issued an appeal yesterday that the Burmese army plan to move 68 Shan families and an orphanage with 208 children away from the border be halted. The more people who become internally displaced, the greater the risk of human trafficking and abuse. The Thai authorities have now said that no more Shan people will be allowed across the border for humanitarian reasons. This will lead to people hiding in Thailand illegally without any protection. This will again make them much more vulnerable to being trafficked into forced labour or the Thai sex industry.
Brad Adams, speaking on behalf of Human Rights Watch said;
“In the name of counterinsurgency, the Burmese army and its proxies are executing, torturing, raping and forcibly displacing Shan civilians, especially those living near Shan State Army (SSA) in Doi Tailaeng, across Mae Hong Son province, who have been under heavy attacks by the United Wa State Army (UWSA), including shelling, since March,'’