Myanmar rejects U.S. human trafficking report

YANGON, June 20 (Reuters) Myanmar has dismissed a US State Department report accusing the military junta of failing to crack down on trafficking people for sex or forced labour.

The report ''unjustifiably'' listed the former Burma among nations that have not complied with minimum standards nor made a significant effort to combat trafficking, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement today.

''The proposed action of economic sanction based on this false classification is not only unethical and contradicts with international law, but also afronts sovereignty and the independence of states,'' the ministry said.

The US report issued earlier this month said Burmese men, women and children are trafficked to Thailand, China, Malaysia and other Asian countries ''for sexual exploitation, domestic service and forced labour.'' ''The military junta's economic mismanagement, human rights abuses, and its policy of using forced labour are driving factors behind Burma's large trafficking problem,'' said the department's 2006 Trafficking in Persons Report.

Last week a Chinese newspaper reported police in the inland province of Henan had rounded up 69 women from Myanmar who were sold to local farmers.

The women were smuggled into Xincai county from the former Burma some 4,000 km away, and sold for as much as 20,000 yuan (2,500 dollars) each, the Southern Metropolis Daily said on its Web site (www.nanfangdaily.com.cn).

The newspaper said many of the women knew they were going to marry a Chinese husband at the very start of their trip and did so willingly to pursue a better life, although police said this was a case of human trafficking.

Myanmar, which has been under military rule since 1962, said it prosecuted 426 traffickers under a new 2005 law that provides penalties ranging from 10 years to life in prison.

However, the US report said the government did not take action against military or civilian officials engaged in forced labour activities.

REUTERS CH ND1338