Myanmar Sentences 20 From Alleged Trafficking Ship

Su Aye Mar

YANGON— Myanmar says it has convicted 20 crew members of a ship that was found off the country’s coast last month carrying more than 200 migrant workers.

Court attorney Aung Kyaw Nyunt told VOA Burmese Wednesday that the men, including the Thai captain, were given prison terms of five years each.

“They are imprisoned under the Immigration Act, not on human trafficking charges.

They pled guilty to the charges, so [the] court decided the sentence.

But they will [still] face the charges for the human trafficking. They are crew members," he said.

Read more: http://www.voanews.com/content/myanmar-human-trafficking-ship-sentence/2835767.html

More likely the accused agreed to illegal immigration INSTEAD of human trafficking, especially if the boat was LEAVING Myanmar. This way the government can deny that Myanmar is the source for human trafficking.

The Thai Junta previously followed a similar position that boat crews entering Thailand's waters with undocumented aliens were charged with illegal immigration and not human trafficking.