- Trafficking of Women and Children in Laos

Im is a village girl from Laos, 16 years old, though she looks around 13-14 years old. She has completed Mathayom 3 (Grade 9). She began thinking about working in Thailand when she was persuaded by an agent named "Somkit". Somkit visited her parents and told them that the job was easy, light and with good pay. Im also knew of several neighbours who had gone to work and returned home with money. Im had seen Bangkok on the television channels 3 and 7 at her neighbour's home. Im thought it a good opportunity to go and see Bangkok and also earn some money for her family.

 Im's parents refused the agent's offer and tried to stop her and. They tried to explain to Im about the hardships she may face in Bangkok and possibilities of Im being arrested by the police. Im was not convinced. Im ran away to Bangkok with Somkit to make her dreams come true. Im was joined by two other girls from a nearby village with the same dreams.

 The three children walked to Ban Lam Yai and from there they took a bus to a pier at the river, crossed the Mekhong River and entered Thailand. At the small immigration office at the mouth of the river, Somkit arranged for the border pass cards. She informed the immigration official that they would stay around the Thai border for just one day. The agent paid for all their expenses upto Bangkok. At Morchit (the Northeastern Bus Terminal) they were joined ten other children.

 Im was taken to Panama Garment Factory. It was a small factory producing clothes for children. Im packed dozens of ready-made clothes into large bags, flattened the buttons and cut off loose pieces of thread. She worked from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. without a break. Then she had to clean the house and wash her own clothes. She was allowed to go to sleep when she finished cleaning the house.

 All the workers lived in a room on the second floor of the factory. They had to lay bare on the plastic mat on the floor. The room was quite hot and stuffy, full of mosquitoes and crowded with many workers. There were no mosquito nets. Free meals were served thrice a day. The food was of poor quality. Every meal was the same: boiled vegetables, rice and salt. If the work was not completed on time the food was brought in late. The employer would watch and scold them to eat their food without delay. The scolding became worse during working hours. The employer would use harsh words even if the children were working hard. Im often missed her family and cried when her employer scolded her.

 Two days later, Im and her two Laotian friends were arrested. The police asked the Second Home for Child Labour Project (FCD) to provide the children with shelter until they could be sent home. FCD contacted the Youth Organisation of Sawannakhet Province in Laos PDR. The Youth Organisation searched for the children's parents. Officials from the Woman and Child Labour Division forced the employer to pay the children their wages 500 baht per child. FCD accompanied the children to the border and handed them over to the Youth Organisation which took them back home.

 As a follow up FCD staff visited Im's village. Im lives in a small village with no electricity. Im's family consists of seven brothers, sisters, a niece and a nephew. Their farm is on lowland and floods easily so they could not rely on their farm for food. Almost every family in the village has one member in Thailand looking for jobs. Most of them cannot not send back money.

 Back at home, helping her parents Im looked happier and healthier. She says that she can the hardship at home because she works of her free will, unlike Bangkok where she had to work under force. She feels that life at home is much better than in Bangkok. Bangkok according to Im is not the heavenly beautiful city of her dreams, on the contrary she experienced it as a hell on earth with heavy traffic and hard work. Im does not wish to return to Bangkok.

 However, her friend, Saeng wants to return if the agent pays for her trip.

The situation in Laos is closely linked with trafficking into Thailand. In one study carried out in 1995, the impact on children was witnessed not only in regard to the plight of the victims in the trafficking process but also the likelihood that they would be treated as illegal immigrants and kept in immigration jail in the country to which they had been trafficked if they were caught by the police:

 "When minors are caught at the place of work, they are not paid and are sent to large prisons by the Immigration Police. This prison is too crowded, with no health facilities, no appropriate sleeping area, children and adults are mixed. From here they are sent to the judge, they are fined, and if they cannot pay, they are imprisoned again. Some of these children are only 14 years old and have been imprisoned as much as 14 times. They may have skin diseases and are malnourished."

 In a 1996 situation analysis backed by UNICEF in Laos, there is a warning that trafficking through Thailand to other countries may be on the increase. The close ties with Thailand are noted as follows:

 "Savannakhet officials report that more than 15,000 of its youth sought work in Thailand in 1995. Most left the country illegally and an increasing number appeared to be under-15 girls. Of those repatriated by Thailand to Savannakhet, about 50 per cent were under 18 years old. With limited vocational skills, few job opportunities and growing demand for consumer goods, girls especially can be lured into prostitution."

 Legal systems fail to address children's problems in this area. "For example, detention centers both in Laos and Thailand are inadequate. Facilities and budgets are insufficient to provide adequate care to children. Children can easily be mistreated by the legal procedures when arrested. Similarly, illegal immigrants into Thailand, many of whom are children, can disappear with no trace, and even if the Lao embassy is informed, the procedures do not facilitate the safe and early return of those under age."

 In the 1997 Lao government report submitted under the CRC, there seemed to be limited recognition of the problem of trafficking into neighboring countries in its statement that "illegal emigration of children occurred before and in the early days of the Lao People's Democratic Republic. No such problems are noticed at the present time. The only legal migration is with full authorisation" and "child trade and abduction is not a significant problem." However, there is some acknowledgment of the problem of child prostitution in its admission that "prostitution occurs mainly in urban areas, such as in Vientiane municipality. Most of the young female prostitutes work as hostesses in bars and some have been sent for re-education several times. The causes of prostitution are a lack of employment and a poor level of education, knowledge and skills."

Foundation for Child Development Center - Profile

The Foundation for Child Development Center (FCD) is a non government organisation which was started in 1979.

Goal

The main objective is to provide opportunity for a holistic development of children.

Method

Projects:

Foundation for Child Development Center

143/109-111 Moo Ban Pinklao Patthana

Soi Wat Suwankhiri, Borom Rachachonani Road

Arun-amarin, Bangkoknoi, BANGKOK 10700, Thailand

Phone: (66 2) 433 6292, 884 6603 Fax: (66 2) 435 5281

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 "The sex trade and prostitution are strictly forbidden (in Laos)... Offender who live from the sex trade or prostitute young girls under age, or force young girls under their dependence to prostitute themselves, will be punished by imprisonment from 3 to 15 years (Section 123, Penal Code)....Any individuals assisting or providing facilities for prostitution will be punished by imprisonment from 3 months to one year or re-educated without incarceration (Article 122.Penal Code)"⁴⁵

 These have been complemented by the 1991 Constitution, article 20 of which has a policy on women and children. There is also the 1990 Family law decree which dictates parental responsibilities towards children, while the 1990 labor law, updated in 1994, prohibits forced labor and protects the rights of women and children at work, the minimum working age being 15.