No.21 - 10/2005
27 October 2005

Human Rights

No stopping the girls leaving home

Burma has recently promulgated the anti-human trafficking law. Which in effect means women under 25 cannot cross the border between Burma’s Tachilek and Thailand’s Maesai without special authorization.
 
Sources on the border however say otherwise. Under aged girls are turned away at the principal crossing point at the Friendship Bridge. Bur officials at other crossing points of the river Maesai have not even bothered to ask to see the national registration card (NRC) from anybody who pays 300-500 baht ($7.5-12.5).

Another official stipulation is that all females leave their NRCs at the immigration checkpoint when they go to Maesai across the bridge and pick them up when they return. In reality, a payment of 300 Kyat ($ 7.5) can make people concerned to overlook the point.

People crossing the border at the Friendship Bridge are charged 20 baht ($0.5) per person each way, 10 for Burma and the other 10 for Thailand.