How poor are poor families in Myanmar?

Poor enough to sell their children to human trafficking rings for $50 US: Trafficker of Rose-Selling Children on Khaosan Road Arrested

The story linked above is currently displayed along an article stating that Thailand has been downgraded to the lowest level (with the worst offenders) in the US State Department’s latest report on human trafficking.

…This is a direct result of the recent reporting on slavery on Thai shrimp boats and the media tying some of the largest corporations in Thailand, the US, and the UK to human trafficking (the big NY Times article ran just yesterday). The response from some of these corporations has been promising:

Through our research and development of alternative protein sources, CPF could walk away from fishmeal. However, doing so would shift the problem to the fishing industry, which is mostly comprised of fishermen earning their living in legal ways. The products of the fishing boats involved in human trafficking and slavery will continue to be purchased by other factories, and the issues around slavery will remain unchanged.

I believe it is better to work within the system, using our buying power to eradicate slavery in the region and make fishing practices fully sustainable…

– Dhanin Chearavanont
Chairman, Charoen Pokphand Foods, Bangkok, Thailand

Excerpt from: CP Foods condemns slavery and human trafficking in fishing industry

1 thought on “How poor are poor families in Myanmar?

  1. I can’t help but think of that crackpot in California who wants to use a higher minimum wage to get rid of illegal immigrants by eliminating their jobs. The only issue with his thinking is that, alas, it makes sense on some level.

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