CNI News
28 December 2025
Dr. Nyo Nyo Thin, founder of the Yangon Watch group, told CNI News that despite the existence of child protection laws in Myanmar, children are being exploited and forced into labor due to the negligence of the authorities.
Common practices include renting toddlers for a day and drugging them with sleeping pills mixed in milk to use them for begging, parents themselves forcing their children to beg, and organized gangs coordinating groups of children for begging activities.
Dr. Nyo Nyo Thin stated that authorities should thoroughly investigate the children currently begging on the streets. She emphasized that the Department of Social Welfare and the General Administration Department (GAD) are responsible for taking action against child abuse.
She explained: "In reality, even if a parliament has not yet been formed, the City Development Committee in Yangon and the Department of Social Welfare in rural areas—along with the GAD—must take responsibility for this issue. Once a parliament is formed, parliamentary committees should draft special plans and work with township representatives to conduct thorough investigations in areas with high concentrations of child beggars. Exploiting children like this is a blatant violation of the law. It is human trafficking and child abuse. Action can be taken under both the Child Law and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Law. The laws already exist; these issues persist because the administrative authorities are neglecting to enforce them. Anyone who sees this should report it. Authorities should then investigate immediately and send the child to social welfare departments if necessary, while exposing those exploiting them. Currently, I don’t even know what the women’s affairs organizations are doing."
Myanmar enacted the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Law on September 13, 2005. Legal experts point out that according to the United Nations definition of human trafficking, the current forced begging of children in Yangon constitutes a crime of human trafficking.
Children seen
Dr. Nyo Nyo Thin added that child abuse is a priority issue that must be addressed regardless of whether a parliament is in session, and it should not require a direct order from Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to begin work.
She continued: "There is a market for renting children, and the public knows it. We have to question why the officials responsible for taking action do not know or why they are ignoring it. These are tasks that must be done even without a parliament. This isn't something that the Ministry of Social Welfare or Women’s Affairs organizations should only start doing because Senior General Min Aung Hlaing tells them to 'go do it.' The Ministry of Social Welfare, women's groups, and township administration teams are duty-bound to act. The public should also pressure township authorities—report it via phone or post on their official social media pages when you see children in these situations."
Legal Context: Section 66, Sub-section (c) of the Child Law stipulates that: Forcing a child to beg for one's own benefit; Failing to prevent a child under one's guardianship from begging; Using a child in any way while begging; ...is punishable by up to 2 years in prison, a fine of up to 10,000 Kyats, or both.
Civil society organizations working with street children also pointed out that there should be widespread awareness campaigns to inform parents who force their children to beg that they could face these legal penalties.
