Originally posted for the Stimson Center's Southeast Asia Change blog: http://www.theseachange.org/2015/06/the-drama-of-human-trafficking/ Photo of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh in 2013, photo credit to EU/ECHO/Pierre Prakash and used under a creative commons license. While recent U.S.-driven anti-trafficking policy initiatives in Myanmar have focused on training the central government to adopt new laws and sensitizing police, little has been accomplished in the way of trafficking prevention, particularly in Myanmar’s conflicted ethnic areas. Examining the civil conflicts in two of the country’s most troubled communities—the Rohingya [...]

Last week the US State Department issued its annual Trafficking In Persons (TIP) Report, which ranks every country in the world according to their adherence to the US government’s anti-trafficking mandate. For the first time, Thailand was designated “Tier 3,” the lowest “rung” on the TIP Report’s ladder. The Report, which is published by the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking, describes “Tier 1” countries as those demonstrating sufficient anti-trafficking efforts; “Tier 2” as those that have begun to demonstrate [...]

Recently, important revelations have come out about the problematic policies of the anti-trafficking movement. Last month, Newsweek broke a story about the Somaly Mam Foundation, a famous Cambodian-based anti-trafficking NGO that has been fabricating stories of sex trafficking to appeal to their donor base. The story was shocking, but to those who understand the contested terrain of the anti-trafficking movement, it wasn’t surprising. The question of what role NGOs should play in “rescuing” women from the sex industry has been debated [...]

In recent weeks, warfare in Burma’s Kachin State has increased and is now making its way closer to the Burma-China border. While the international community has paid little attention to the Kachin conflict over the past few years, understanding its complexity is now more important than ever. Failing to do so could have dire implications on the lives of Kachin women, and on diplomatic relations in the region. Kachin State is an ethnic area in northern Burma that has long [...]

When people hear the word, “trafficking,” they often think of young women held in bondage, forced into prostitution against their will. This is certainly a circumstance that takes place around the globe—one that is real, and very serious. But often, sex workers, many of whom are migrants seeking a better life in a country far from home, know what they are getting into when they enter the trade. The real problem they face is that their work is criminalized. Anti-trafficking [...]