PROMISES of 4000 baht a month quickly transformed into beatings, starvation and lies for human trafficking victim “Ni Ni” when she went to Bangkok to work as a flower seller when she was only 12 years old.

Ni Ni’s story is like those of so many others who find themselves at the mercy of traffickers who move people, just like any other commodity, from one country to another.

The difference is that she has told her story – at the Mekong Youth Forum in Bangkok from September 2 to 9.

The forum marshalled 30 children from the Greater Mekong nations of China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam to share their experiences and compile recommendations for governments and aid agencies to help other young people.

The forum was organised by World Vision, Save the Children and United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP).

Numerically Southeast Asia is the world’s leader in terms of trafficked people who are often tricked or coerced into leaving their homes to work abroad as sex workers, labourers or house maids.

Lieutenant Colonel Rallyan Mone, the deputy head of the Myanmar’s Department Against Transnational Crime, attended the youth forum and said the Mekong region is regarded as a hotspot area for human trafficking.

He said he has heard estimates that 300,000 women and children are trafficked every year within the region.

“That is why it is important to listen to the voices of these children,” he said, “so that we can know what the problem is and solve it as best we can.”

Of course, with poverty so widespread in many areas across the region, many people simply choose to leave their country of origin to seek better money and work abroad.

Myanmar’s five participants at the forum included two boys and three girls, some of whom fall into the less-recognised category of “internally” trafficked.

Myanmar’s participants were selected by their peers during a national conference this year involving 27 children and young people from high-risk areas in seven states and divisions.

Ma Ohnmar Ei Ei Chaw, UNIAP’s national project coordinator on human trafficking in the Greater Mekong sub-region, described the role of the youth forum using a medical analogy.

“Unless we diagnose a problem properly we will never be come up with a cure – and these children are describing the problem to us,” she said.

Ma Ohnmar Ei Ei Chaw said the process had been “eye-opening for adults” who were involved.

“[Children] express things very sincerely and without knowing the politics or political implications involved. They’re very open,” she said.

This openness certainly is true of Ni Ni, who recounted her experience of being trafficked from her home in Kayin State to Bangkok.

Now an expressive 16 year old with dreams of becoming a writer, Ni Ni said it was envy of her neighbour’s son – who was working in Thailand and sending money to his mother – and a desire to help pay for her schooling that led her to seek employment in Bangkok during her school holidays four years ago.

What followed for her was a two-year ordeal for two separate employers that saw her beaten regularly. In the end she was only paid 1500 baht and effectively lost her family – her mother and stepfather were both jailed while she was in Thailand and she has lost contact with her five siblings.

One point that makes children like Ni Ni the most vulnerable group to traffickers is their lack of control over their own lives, which leads to questions about what influence they can potentially have on government policy. But Ma Ohnmar Ei Ei Chaw quickly debunked this line of thought and said an approach targeting a number of groups would lead to success.

“This is an ongoing process and these recommendations are not only targeted at the government; there are some that are aimed at parents, NGOs and INGOs, communities and the children themselves. The recommendations are for everyone,” she said.

“There are specific recommendations for INGOs which will be shared with them and they will be held accountable for implementing them, so not only the government will be held accountable for implementing these recommendations. Everyone, all of the stake holders will be responsible,” she said, adding that the government does have requirements to fulfil and has committed to including children.

“It is encouraging to know that Myanmar’s five-year national plan of action against trafficking is being developed and has included child participation in policy planning.”

Some of these recommendations were outlined by 19-year-old “Ma Su Su” from Kayah State, who was trafficked internally in Myanmar.

She said the forum was extremely beneficial for everyone who attended because it allowed the participants to talk freely to their governments and explain the reasons why human trafficking in the region is increasing.

“Trafficking is very common in our state. Nearly all families have someone who goes and works legally or illegally in neighbouring countries like Thailand.
“But because many go over illegally, we do not have any documents and there is no law to protect us when we get there,” she said.

She also suggested that the governments of the region should work with employers of foreign workers to make legally binding agreements that protect the rights of workers.

Worldwide the problem is enormous – the United Nations recently estimated that it’s worth US$44 billion annually.

And solving the problem in Myanmar is complicated, although bodies like the UNIAP are doing their best to educate people about trafficking and what they can expect to encounter if they go abroad in search of work.

Their biggest job is educating people like Ni Ni, who is happy to warn people that going abroad for work might not be as beneficial as it appears.

“Some people go to other countries with high hopes of making money and returning rich but what they imagine might not be the reality they find.
“Instead they may find themselves being tortured and abused like me.”

The names of both trafficked girls interviewed for this story have been changed to protect their identities.