One of the biggest problems the Myanmar government faces dealing with human trafficking is that victims are often too scared to tell anybody about what happened to them, Luis CdeBaca, US Ambassador-at-Large, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons told Mizzima at a press conference held at the Embassy of the United States in Yangon on October 6.
Ambassador-at-Large CdeBaca and two other delegates arrived in Yangon October 5 to attend the ASEAN-US seminar on trafficking in persons held at Yangon’s Parkroyal Hotel on October 6.
“I think a part of it is because of the nature of the crime. Human trafficking is a crime of exploiting someone, and holding them as servants. What happens is victims have been trained by the traffickers to think traffickers are very powerful,” Mr CdeBaca told Mizzima.
As a result, victims dare not tell a police officer or someone what is happening to them, Mr CdeBaca said, referring to those who remain under the control of traffickers.
“In countries around the world, instead of victims going to the police, and saying I’m a trafficking victim; please help me, what happens is the victims think nobody is going to believe me. … Police don’t realize they are a trafficking victim,” Mr CdeBaca said.
The ambassador said human trafficking is happening all over the world and not just a problem in Myanmar, noting that if one looks at the term trafficking, it’s not about moving people, it’s about exploitation.
He also expressed Washington’s particular concern and commitment on the issue of child soldiers.
“We [US government] expect the Myanmar government to continue recent efforts to release children from the Burmese army. Frankly, there should be, at this point, no more children because it should be clear that they shouldn’t be recruiting children into the army. We are not going to walk away from that commitment, to make sure that Burmese children are protected as well,” Mr CdeBaca said.
