After publishing our 2005 report Driven Away on trafficking of Kachin women, we set up a crisis support service for women on the China-Kachin border. We began providing assistance to women and girls who had been trafficked, and were contacted for help by many fami- lies whose daughters had disappeared. We have therefore encountered many more trafficking cases than in the past, and have identified some clearer trends, which we would like to share in this brief report.
The main causes of migration from Kachin areas of Burma, which are de- scribed in our earlier report, have only intensified over the past few years. The Burmese military regime has continued to authorize and profit from large-scale extraction of our natural resources, mainly timber, jade and gold. On top of this, they are now planning to dam our rivers, for sale of electricity to China. Seven large dams on the Irrawaddy and its source rivers in Kachin State will displace tens of thousands of people, and lead to further migration.
