Two human traffickers, a woman and a man, have been sentenced to long-term imprisonment by a Myanmar local court in Muse, a town bordering China, state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported Saturday.

Yan Phaik Yi, 22, was sentenced to 10-year imprisonment on Aug. 11 for persuading a 24-year-old women in Kutkai township by giving her 200,000 kyats (about 153 U.S. dollars) in advance out of 960, 000 kyats (about 738 U.S. dollars) into marrying a Chinese man. Yan was arrested by the border police force of China on Feb. 2 this year while taking the victim together with her, the report said.

Naw Hsaing, 36, enticed two young girls -- Lu Aung, 16, and Hsai Nan, 18, in the same township with the false promise of better work and sold them into China. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on Aug. 14, according to the report.

Members of police forces from Myanmar and China are cooperating to rescue the two victims, it added.

After attending the World Women's Conference held in Beijing in 1995, Myanmar launched its drive to combat human trafficking. The Myanmar National Committee for Women's Affairs (MNCWA) was formed in July 1996, which laid down a policy on the development and life security of women and has been implementing it since then.

Myanmar promulgated the National Plan of Action in 1997, with the aim of fighting the problem of trafficking of persons in various aspects.

The country became a signatory to the Asia Regional Cooperation to Prevent People Trafficking (ARCPPT) project comprising Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos in December 2003.

In September 2004, Myanmar organized the Transnational Crime Department with 99 members to enhance international cooperation.

Besides, Myanmar hosted the meeting for the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking in Yangon in 2004, joining with five other countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion in signing the first ever memorandum of understanding on suppression of such crime in the Asia-Pacific region.

Myanmar became a signatory to the Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (CTOC) and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children in 2004 respectively.

In April 2004, Myanmar enacted the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Law to serve as a legal basis for the country's international cooperation in crime suppression including human trafficking.

Myanmar passed an anti-trafficking in persons law in September 2005 that covers sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, servitude and debt bondage. During the year, the government prosecuted 426 traffickers in 203 cases under the new law and identified 844 victims.

Meanwhile, in March this year, Myanmar formed the Central Committee for Anti-Trafficking in Persons to step up cracking down on such crime. With Minister of Home Affairs Major-General Maung Oo as chairman, the central committee also formed three work committees for anti-trafficking and protecting of victims, for legal affairs and trial, and for reception, organization and rehabilitation respectively.

The Myanmar authorities have exposed 748 human trafficking cases between July 2002, when the work committee for human trafficking prevention was formed, and June 2006, arresting 1,484 persons -- 815 males and 669 females, and also rescued 3,694 persons -- 1,904 males and 1,790 females.

Source: Xinhua