Yangon (AsiaNews) - Trafficking in human beings is a "virtual hell" and "shames" Myanmar, which is also involved in a phenomenon that affects millions of people around the world writes Msgr. Charles Bo, Archbishop of Yangon heartfelt in a letter, issued on 13 September. The bishop has long been active in the defense of human rights, unity and religious freedom in the former Burma, where violence and abuse towards minorities and internal dissent persist.
He appeals directly to the government asking them to stop this new form of modern slavery, which particularly affects women who are exploited not only for work, but also with sexual purposes. And South-East Asia, he warns, is home to the world's "poorest and most vulnerable".
Msgr. Bo states that the region has "lost its sense of dignity"
because of "drug barons, who
cynically manipulate governments," as well as the systems put in place to "earn as much
money as possible" by illegal means.
A problem that especially affects
Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. The prelate terms
his country a "nation of the
Exodus", due to "man-made
disasters", above all 60 years "of
a merciless dictatorship" which
has led to massive "under-development".
"Those who practice human
trafficking - charges Msgr.
Bo - have much to
gain in the trafficking of young
innocent Burmese ", who are sold
"as merchandise." Many other men and women, end up "dying inside containers", during failed attempts at "illegal immigration".
The priest echoes the warnings of international NGOs, which accuse the government of "indifference", even the "complicity" of some members with the network of smugglers who end up leading young people into "forced labor." "What saddens me most - he added - is the total absence of attempts to combat this phenomenon. And the network of traffickers grows more prosperous every day". He also points to the protagonists of the civil raging in the States inhabited by ethnic minorities, both on the government side and among the militias, who are doing nothing - the prelate denounces - "to protect the daughters of Myanmar". "The men have been subjected to the yoke of slavery - says Msgr. Bo - and the women exposed to sexual abuse."
Given the recent economic and social, the prelate notes a similar growth of a form of capitalism
where "the rich get richer and the poor poorer ".
He also denounces the phenomenon of progressive confiscation of land and the ever increasing loss of
rights. Communities, institutions and religious groups have
to "sensitize" the public "about these issues and to campaign," relying on " government cooperation".
Finally, the Archbishop also condemns China and its disastrous one-child
policy, which has caused serious damage beyond its own national borders. Millions of
men find themselves without women,
states Msgr. Bo, and
with no prospect of married life. This has resulted in one of the most "abominable" phenomenon
in the trafficking in human beings
"registered on this earth in the last few years". Make this country a nation of
opportunity "not only for the rich,
but for everyone," says the Archbishop
of Yangon, where we can hope in "a new era of freedom" with "the total abolition" of
"all forms of slavery".