There has been an increase in child trafficking on the Sino-Burma border in the past year under the Burmese military regime, the Kachin Women's group has claimed during Anti-Child Trafficking Day on December 12.

The Kachin Women's Association Thailand (KWAT) has documented 18 cases this year where boys and girls under the age of 18 were trafficked.

"These are just the cases that come to our office and it's only from one border that we could reach. But there might have been many such cases in other places too," said Ms. Gum Hkawng, anti-trafficking programme coordinator of the KWAT.

A recent KWAT report "Eastward Bound" revealed that about two-thirds of the women and children from Kachin State and about one-third from northern Shan State were trafficked to China. About 25 per cent of trafficked women were under 18 while most girls were as young as 14.

Despite being bound by international treaties like the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Burmese military government also called the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) violates the law, said La Aung, Human Rights programme coordinator of Human Rights Education Institute of Burma (HREIB).

"In Burma, even children who should be in school are seen on the street, working in factories, shops and struggling for survival. Actually, it's the responsibility of the government to look after them", said La Aung.

To make matters worse the Burmese Army has been recruiting children into the military to swell the ranks of the army by using child soldiers, La Aung added.

According to a Trafficking in Persons Report 2008 by the US State Department, Burma is a source country for women, children and men, trafficked for the purpose of forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation.

Burmese women and children are trafficked to Thailand, the People's Republic of China, Bangladesh, Malaysia, South Korea and Macau for sexual exploitation, domestic servitude and forced labour.