Committee: UNHRC

Agenda: Protecting victims of human trafficking in conflict and post-conflict situations

Country: Myanmar (Burma)
Delegate: 20915 이수완

Human trafficking, as defined by the UNODC, is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or
receipt of people through force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit. Human
trafficking is a global problem deeply affiliated with conflict situations worldwide, as it is  poverty, war,
natural disasters and a search for a better life that is held accountable for the increase in trafficking.

Myanmar represents one of the most problematic conflict areas in East Asia, suffering from decades of
repressive military rule, poverty from the isolationist economic policies by the said military junta, and
civil war with ethnic minority groups. This long-lasting dispute which has been ongoing since in 1948
When Myanmar gained independence from the U.K., lead to violent clashed between the democratic
government – represented by Aung San Suu Kyi – and the ethnic Burmese-led military commonly known
as the Tatmadaw. The most recent conflict between the two sides was the military coup in 2021. After
Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD’s winning the election, the Tatmadaw has retained power by staging a coup.
The military apprehended Suu Kyi and placed lawmakers under house arrest all while using the
constitution to their advantage to justify their actions.

In times of conflict like this, human trafficking becomes a very common practice, especially against
social minorities. Fifty-one percent of victims in East Asia were women, and children comprised nearly
a third, according to the UNODC report. Children, who account for a large percentage of trafficked
victims, are more likely than adults to be trafficked via routes without any official border control points.
So what we see in the statistics might not even cover the tip of the real numbers.

In fact, social minorities are also more likely to be overlooked by statistics, as shown from the fact
that even though forced labor is generally considered to be the most serious trafficking problem in
Myanmar, reports actually state that most trafficking cases found in Myanmar involved women and
girls subjected to forced marriage or intended to be subjected to forced marriage. Not too different, if
not even worse, from the democratic regime, the wake of military forces left inherent discriminatory
treatment against the social minority, especially women and also children. Not only do they use rape as a
common tactic, the chaos caused by the Tatmadaw causes Burmese women to flee to a nearby country
such as China and suffer as a victim of human trafficking there.

Also, with the alarming increase of child pornography for both boys and girls and the unlawful recruit of
boys in military are more examples of child trafficking problems in Myanmar, as well as many other
countries in East Asia.

With Aung San Suu Kyi’s coming to power, however, Myanmar has implemented law enforcement
actions against human trafficking with the 2005 Anti-Trafficking in Persons Law. The law serves to
prevent human trafficking while paying particular attention to women and children. It also serves to
cooperate with international, regional, and intergovernmental organizations while following the
international conventions in human trafficking – which Myanmar has accepted. However, However, the
2005 law requires a demonstration of force, fraud, or coercion to constitute a child sex trafficking offense,
which does not criminalize all forms of child sex trafficking. The law does not currently hold power
because of the military forces shunning it.

Like countries who are in the midst of dealing with conflict situations as well as human trafficking such
as Iran, Sudan, Syria, and Afghanistan, Myanmar proposes that it needs international support to solve the
human trafficking even with the constant change in government forces.

Therefore, concerning the matters of protecting victims of human trafficking in conflict and post-conflict
situations, specifically social minorities, Myanmar strongly suggests that all nations should actively
implement international commitments. First, prohibit the recruitment of children by armed forces and try
continuously to end the vicious cycle among all nations. Second, Amend laws that do not fit the
international standard of human trafficking. For example in Myanmar, amending the anti-trafficking law
to secure that a demonstration of force, fraud, or coercion are not required to define child sex trafficking.