“From January to the second week of September, 2014 22 Arakanese fell into the trap of traffickers, but the good news is that all of them have been rescued,” said U Min Chit Oo, the administrative chief of Arakan State, who also leads the state’s anti-human trafficking mission.

Myanmar (also known as Burma) observed anti-human trafficking day on September 13th at U Oattama Hall in Sittwe.

Arakan State’s cities and towns are not very vulnerable to human traffickers compared to the 40 other cities and localities in Burma.

Nevertheless, 13 local residents from Myaybon Township and nine individuals from Am Township were trafficked in January of this year.

According to U Min Chit Oo, the traffickers promised the victims they would receive around 400,000 kyat per month before taking them to undisclosed locations.

Thereafter, they were brought to Thailand and all 22 Arakanese were sold to an agency based in the Mahachai area near Bangkok. Fortunately, they were rescued by the Myanmar Embassy in Indonesia with the help of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Indonesia’s anti-human trafficking police force. By that time, the trafficked Arakanese nationals had been taken to Inpin Seaport in Indonesia.

U Min Chit Oo argued that the Arakanese villagers were illiterate and had no knowledge of the traffickers. The trafficked persons were brought back to Sittwe on August 22nd and taken back to their respective home villages.

The root causes of the menace of human trafficking across the globe are understood to be poverty, lack of awareness, and insufficient enforcement in under-developed countries.

At the anti-human trafficking day ceremony, one local leader emphasized the need for more awareness about the issue, which has become a curse on humanity in recent years. He also criticized anti-human trafficking organizations for not doing enough to raise awareness about traffickers and their evil activities.

During his lecture, U Min Chit Oo also urged anti-trafficking organizations working in Arakan State and other parts of Burma to undertake effective anti-trafficking programs in association with local authorities for the benefit of impoverished people, who are generally more vulnerable to human traffickers.