Sittwe trafficking victim expected to return home

By Admin 08 Sep 2023

DMG Newsroom
8 September 2023, Sittwe

A Sittwe woman who was lured by a job in China and taken to Yangon has contacted her family after going missing for five days.

Ma Thin Thin (pseudonym), 23, from Setyonesu Ward was taken to Yangon on September 3 by two women from the same ward who promised her a job in China. After five days, she contacted her family through the police.

“My daughter was left by the two women at the express bus terminal in Yangon. My daughter met an acquaintance, and she then phoned us from a police station in Yangon,” said Ma Thin Thin’s father.

He has filed a complaint against the two women who took Ma Thin Thin to Yangon at Sittwe Police Station. The two brokers have been identified as Daw Chin Ma, 40, and Daw Hla Yine Phyu, 50.

“My daughter is returning home. The two brokers are still at large. I am concerned that there will be more victims,” said Ma Thin Thin’s mother.

DMG was unable to contact the Sittwe Police Station for comment.

Driven by high unemployment, many men and women in their 20s and 30s are leaving Arakan State to work overseas, with some falling victim to human traffickers.

On April 4, four women from Sittwe, Mrauk-U and Rathedaung townships were trafficked by two brokers from Sittwe to work as domestic helpers in Dubai.

Rakhaing Women Initiative Organization chairwoman Saw San Nyein Thu has called for more education programmes to address human trafficking.

“These cases happen because victims and their families have little knowledge. There is a lot to do to educate people about human trafficking,” she said.

On July 1, four Muslims from Ohntawgyi Muslim camp in Sittwe Township were taken by a Muslim man from Khaungdokkar Village who promised them jobs in Rathedaung.