Human Rights Watch (HRW) has released a new report, titled “Trafficking of Kachin ‘Brides’ from Myanmar to China.” The report details how—due to the conflict in the Kachin and northern Shan regions of Myanmar—displaced women are left with few educational and economic opportunities, leaving them vulnerable to “bride” trafficking into China. China’s one child policy has contributed to an unbalanced ratio of men to women, and some families have begun to look to trafficking in order to find “brides” for unmarried men. Often, women from Myanmar are misled to believe they are accepting a job, only to be kidnapped, delivered to a family, and “married” to and raped by their new “husband.” After having a child, some women are allowed to return to Myanmar but are not permitted to bring their child along. Due to police corruption, traffickers often face little or no consequences.
HRW has offered several recommendations, urging the Myanmar government to allow and support humanitarian assistance to the Kachin and northern Shan States, to develop a tracking database of kidnapped girls, and to enhance support services to the victims.
Compiled from: “Give Us a Baby and We’ll Let You Go” Trafficking of Kachin “Brides” from Myanmar to China, Human Rights Watch (Mar. 2019); Myanmar: Women, Girls Trafficked as 'Brides' to China, Human Rights Watch (Mar. 21, 2019).