Eight children were rescued by Thai police from an apartmentin Chiang Mai on Tuesday. The children, who were from 3 to 14 years old, wereheld by three Burmese citizens who were forcing them to beg for money. Thaipolice said the captors lured or stole the children from their homes in Burma.
Human trafficking is common in Burma and Thailand. Men,women and children are trafficked for sex work, marriage or menial labor. Burmais often a source of trafficked people as well as an intermediate stop forpeople trafficked from other countries. The US State Department has given Burmathe lowest ranking, and Thailand a middle ranking, for not complying with theTrafficking Victims’ Protection Act.
PHR supports the efforts of the Thai authorities to stoptrafficking, an urges them to do more to combat this human rights violationthroughout Thailand.