RECOMMENDATIONS  FOR  BURMA:
Proactively initiate investigations of both sex and labor trafficking offenses, including trafficking occurring within Burma, and prosecute and convict offenders; increase coordination between specialized anti-trafficking police units, general police units, and prosecutors and provide more resources to prosecutors for trafficking cases; increase efforts to investigate and sanction—including through criminal prosecution—government and military perpetrators of internal trafficking offenses—including forced labor and child soldier recruitment—and make data about these efforts public; cease all recruitment of children into the armed forces and actively identify and demobilize all children currently serving in the military’s ranks; develop and implement formal procedures for the proactive identification of victims among vulnerable groups and their referral to service providers; continue to bolster training and resources for consular officials and labor attachés in countries with significant populations of Burmese migrant workers; through partnerships with local and international civil society organizations, prioritize and significantly increase proactive victim protection efforts, including victim shelters, provision of services for male victims, and reintegration support for former child soldiers; do not punish victims for acts committed while being subjected to trafficking or those fleeing forced labor, including children attempting to leave the army; strengthen age verification procedures for new military recruits; take necessary action to clarify roles and responsibilities of law enforcement and authorize the anti-trafficking taskforce (ATTF) police to proactively initiate, investigate, and support prosecution of trafficking cases; reform military policies—including high recruitment targets and the practice of civilian portering—that drive the demand for forced labor and child soldier conscription; grant international monitors unhindered access to inspect any and all recruitment centers, training centers, and military bases for the presence of children; and appoint a case manager to facilitate victims’ involvement in criminal proceedings and to maintain a victim-centered approach to investigations and prosecutions.

PROSECUTION
The government continued law enforcement efforts to address cross-border sex trafficking, but did not make progress in holding significant numbers of traffickers, including public officials, criminally accountable for trafficking within the country. Burma prohibits sex and labor trafficking through its 2005 Anti-Trafficking in Persons Law, which prescribes criminal penalties that are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for rape. Forced labor, including the recruitment of children into the army, is a criminal offense under both the Wards and Village Tracts Administration Act, passed in March 2012, and penal code Section 374; violations can result in imprisonment for up to one year, a fine, or both. In addition, forced labor is prohibited under Section 359 of Burma’s 2008 constitution. During the reporting period, the government initiated a legal review to develop recommendations to strengthen the 2005 law.

The government reported investigating 98 cases involving 291 suspects, and prosecuting and convicting 143 traffickers in 2014, compared with 100 cases investigated and 183 traffickers prosecuted and convicted in 2013. As in previous years, the government’s law enforcement efforts focused primarily on the sex trafficking or forced service of Burmese women through forced marriages to Chinese men, with the majority of cases pursued by the ATTF in Muse. The government reported investigating 26 suspected cases of internal trafficking and 18 cases of labor trafficking, though it did not provide additional information about the nature of these cases or whether they resulted in any prosecutions or convictions.There were no prosecutions or convictions of civilians for child soldier recruitment. Authorities have never used the 2012 Wards and VillageTracts Administration Act to prosecute a forced labor offense committed by a public official or private entity. Lack of transparency in the justice system, coupled with police and justice officials’ limited understanding of trafficking offenses and poor police-prosecutor cooperation in prosecuting complex crimes, made it difficult to verify court statistics provided by the government. Local experts reported general (non-ATTF) police perceived they did not have the authority to pursue investigations proactively and primarily opened investigations only in response to complaints.The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division (ATIPD) provided both basic introductory and on-the-job training for police, and international organizations funded additional anti-trafficking training for Burmese officials. The ATIPD maintained dedicated ATTF police throughout the country, but a lack of clarity between the roles and responsibilities of ATTF officers and general police investigators, as well as a lack of established channels of communication among law enforcement officials in Burma, continued to hamper the success of investigations and prosecutions. In addition to poor coordination among police units, an acute lack of basic policing equipment and resources was a major obstacle for police to undertake proactive investigations into trafficking crimes.
Corruption and impunity remained pervasive in Burma and hindered the enforcement of human trafficking laws. Police limited investigations in cases with alleged involvement of well-connected individuals. The power and influence of the Burmese military limited the ability of civilian police and courts to address cases of forced labor and the forced recruitment of child soldiers by the armed forces; there was no evidence any soldiers accused of trafficking crimes have ever been prosecuted in civilian courts. The government cooperated with ILO, which received and investigated more than 100 complaints of forced labor and child soldier conscription committed by members of the military or civilian administrators.The Ministry of Defense undertook efforts to investigate and punish military personnel for child soldier recruitment as a result of these complaints, but the government did not provide additional data on the number and type of punishments during the reporting period. There were no other investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of officials complicit in human trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION
The government’s victim protection efforts, including modest efforts to provide temporary shelter to Burmese victims repatriated from abroad, remained inadequate. The majority of victims were identified through international repatriations, including 65 male and female victims identified and returned by officials in Thailand, 108 female victims returned from China, and 144 male victims returned from Indonesia; the latter were