Three alleged victims of human trafficking have reported a couple to police in Chin State’s Falam Township for operating an unlicensed foreign-employment agency and recruiting local people to work in China.

Lalram Lian and his wife Byetram Sung, of Myo Hla Ward in Sagaing Region’s Kalay Township, are accused of sending Falam residents to China for a 150,000 kyat (US$97) “transportation fee” with promises of jobs that paid 4,000 yuan ($560) a month.

The two accused took Ngun Nel Thang, of Talan Yong, and Sheng Nel Bwi and Talun Noe Zul, of Talan Lo Ward in Falam, to the border city of Muse in Shan State, where they made seven-day border passes for them and sent them across the border to China.

The three victims said they were forced to work illegally in China and did not receive their full salaries. They later returned to Burma, where they went to police to press charges against the couple.

Lalram Lian and Byetram Sung have been charged with acting as foreign-employment brokers without a license, an offense that carries a penalty of up to seven years in prison.

According to a police officer who is handling the case, the two suspected human traffickers fled before they could be taken into custody and are still at large.

“We went to arrest them at their home, but they had already run away. We told [Lalram Lian’s] father and the village headman to persuade the couple to face the charges in a court of law,” police officer Ngwe Soe of Falam Myoma police station told Khonumthung News.

He added that people should not accept offers of jobs in China because the Labor Ministry has not yet given foreign-employment agencies permission to send Burmese workers into the country.

“Currently, foreign-employment agencies are permitted to send Burmese workers to Singapore, Japan, [South] Korea, Thailand and Malaysia. If people go to work in China, they won’t have any official guarantee and won’t get their full labor rights. So they should not go to China in search of work,” he said.