Twelve of fifty-eight migrant sex workers rescued from a boat landing along the Burma coast in southern Thailand were found to be HIV-positive. Most are ethnic women from Mon State, Burma, said a social worker Ko Winn Paing based in Ranong, Thailand.
“They were sold for prostitution from the hands of human traffickers and were left behind after showing HIV symptoms. We later rescued them on November 24 from a boat landing and took them to the hospital.”
According to the social worker of Setana Shin Social Foundation, eight are Lao Shan, an ethnic people from Mon state, and the other four are Mon and Burman. The migrants do not want to go back to their home village and instead want to live on the border where they can receive medical treatment. The community isolates those who have HIV and traditionally look down on sex workers.
Burmese Women are vulnerable to HIV infection
Thousands of Burmese women and children are lured and forced into Thailand every year by human traffickers to work in the sex industry. These numbers are expected to increase due to continued political repression in the coming months and the downtown in the world economy. Burmese women, in particular ethnic women who face language barriers back home and in Thailand, make up the bulk of the domestic workers and are targets for sexual exploitation and violence. Depending on their age, beauty and virginity they are bartered or kidnapped to work in the sex brothels.
“These women contribute significantly back home, but poverty, human rights violations, and political repression committed by the Burmese government forces women to leave their villages to find work abroad in order to support themselves and their family” said a Mon community worker. Not only are they exploited and denied their rights as workers, but they face an onslaught in contracting the AIDS virus and other sexually transmitted diseases.
A recent report by the UN Development Fund on Asian women, HIV vulnerability of Migrant Women: From Asia to the Arab States, says a combination of excessive recruitment fees, poor wages, and poverty push migrants into a desperate situation.
The report highlighted the fact that reintegration programmes form the best defense for those suffering from AIDS and in helping the victims. Migrants with HIV who are deported back to Burma “can be devastating for [their] health, well-being and livelihoods of migrants and their families,” the report said. The idea of not being able to work abroad forces them into a vicious cycle “puts them at substantial risk of being trafficked” and over and over again.
Ajjay Chibber, the UNDP regional director for Asia, said the migrants, who suffer discrimination from the time they arrive, would become more marginalized once they contracted HIV.
“If they are found to be HIV positive, they risk deportation. Once returned to their home countries, they are unable to find work and face discrimination and social isolation,” he said.
According to the report, these countries should work to integrate their laws covering recruitment agencies, while putting in place “urgent reforms” in their labour laws to recognize domestic help as a formal profession.
Simultaneously, Asian countries should step up HIV awareness and prevention programmes during pre-departure orientation programmes for prospective migrants.
Initiatives should also be undertaken to also promote “safe and informed migration”, while embassy staff and those responsible for labour relations should be taught to be more sensitive to the plight of women, especially those who test positive for HIV.
“They were sold for prostitution from the hands of human traffickers and were left behind after showing HIV symptoms. We later rescued them on November 24 from a boat landing and took them to the hospital.”
According to the social worker of Setana Shin Social Foundation, eight are Lao Shan, an ethnic people from Mon state, and the other four are Mon and Burman. The migrants do not want to go back to their home village and instead want to live on the border where they can receive medical treatment. The community isolates those who have HIV and traditionally look down on sex workers.
Burmese Women are vulnerable to HIV infection
Thousands of Burmese women and children are lured and forced into Thailand every year by human traffickers to work in the sex industry. These numbers are expected to increase due to continued political repression in the coming months and the downtown in the world economy. Burmese women, in particular ethnic women who face language barriers back home and in Thailand, make up the bulk of the domestic workers and are targets for sexual exploitation and violence. Depending on their age, beauty and virginity they are bartered or kidnapped to work in the sex brothels.
“These women contribute significantly back home, but poverty, human rights violations, and political repression committed by the Burmese government forces women to leave their villages to find work abroad in order to support themselves and their family” said a Mon community worker. Not only are they exploited and denied their rights as workers, but they face an onslaught in contracting the AIDS virus and other sexually transmitted diseases.
A recent report by the UN Development Fund on Asian women, HIV vulnerability of Migrant Women: From Asia to the Arab States, says a combination of excessive recruitment fees, poor wages, and poverty push migrants into a desperate situation.
The report highlighted the fact that reintegration programmes form the best defense for those suffering from AIDS and in helping the victims. Migrants with HIV who are deported back to Burma “can be devastating for [their] health, well-being and livelihoods of migrants and their families,” the report said. The idea of not being able to work abroad forces them into a vicious cycle “puts them at substantial risk of being trafficked” and over and over again.
Ajjay Chibber, the UNDP regional director for Asia, said the migrants, who suffer discrimination from the time they arrive, would become more marginalized once they contracted HIV.
“If they are found to be HIV positive, they risk deportation. Once returned to their home countries, they are unable to find work and face discrimination and social isolation,” he said.
According to the report, these countries should work to integrate their laws covering recruitment agencies, while putting in place “urgent reforms” in their labour laws to recognize domestic help as a formal profession.
Simultaneously, Asian countries should step up HIV awareness and prevention programmes during pre-departure orientation programmes for prospective migrants.
Initiatives should also be undertaken to also promote “safe and informed migration”, while embassy staff and those responsible for labour relations should be taught to be more sensitive to the plight of women, especially those who test positive for HIV.
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