After 50 years of economic isolation, observers fear that Myanmar children might be forced to work before they can complete schooling in a booming economy.
在50年的经济孤立之后，缅甸经济迎来蓬勃发展，但观察人士担心缅甸儿童会因此在完成学业前可能就被迫劳动。
The Southeast Asian country, also known as Burma, has one of the worst records for child labor of any country. Many children work every day to earn money for their families.
缅甸这个东南亚国家的童工记录比任何国家都要更差。很多孩子每天工作为家里挣钱。
Tun Min is 16 years old. He uses his boat to deliver fish to a market near Yangon. He earns about $8 a day. He hopes his life will one day be better.
Tun Min现年16岁。他用自己的船把鱼运到仰光附近的一个市场。他每天能挣大约8美元。他希望自己的生活有天会更好。
"My wish is to become a trader in the fish market. I need some money to become a fish trader. Then, I can earn more money."
“我的愿望是成为市场鱼贩，但是成为鱼贩需要一些资金。然后我就可以赚更多钱。”
Tun Min left school when he was 12 because his mother was sick and his family needed money. Experts say about twenty percent of children in Myanmar between the ages of 10 and 17 work instead of going to school. They work in factories, tourism and many other businesses. They work in cities and in rural areas.
Tun Min 12岁时因为母亲生病以及家里缺钱而辍学。专家表示，缅甸大约20%左右年龄在10到17岁的儿童在打工而不是上学。他们在工厂、旅游业等行业打工，打工地点遍布城乡。
Foreign investors are helping Myanmar's economic growth. And with a growing economy there is an increase in the need for workers. Some rights activists say they are worried that children will be forced to work to help keep the economy strong.
外国投资者正在帮助缅甸的经济增长。而不断增长的经济也提升了对工人的需求。一些人权活动人士表示，他们担心儿童会被迫工作以帮助保持经济强劲。
May Win Myint works for the National League for Democracy, the country's leading political party.
May Win Myint就职于该国主要政党全国民主联盟。
"If we cannot solve this problem, there will not be any development in our country because the children will be the people serving the country in the future. They need to be educated to do that."
他说，“如果我们不能解决这个问题，我们国家就不会有任何发展。因为儿童是祖国未来的栋梁，他们需要接受教育来实现这点。”
Children younger than age 13 are not permitted to work in shops or factories in Myanmar. If they do work, they may only do so for up to four hours a day. But experts say businesses do not obey the law, and the government does not punish them for ignoring it.
缅甸年龄在13岁以下的儿童不允许在商店或工厂打工。如果他们出去打工，他们每天最多只能工作4小时。但是专家表示，企业不遵守法律，而政府对此未做出任何惩罚。
Human rights groups and child protection activists want the country to put in place stronger laws and work harder to keep children in school.
人权组织和儿童保护人士希望缅甸制定更加严格的法律，并更加努力地不让孩子失学。
Michael Slingsby works for the UN Development Program.
Michael Slingsby就职于联合国开发项目署。
"I think it should be a priority area, but needs to be combined with positive policies. If you try to ban child labor, there's a danger that you drive it underground and people (will) still continue to work very young, but do it in a less open way."
他说，“我认为这应该作为重点领域，但是必须和积极的政策结合起来。如果试图禁止童工，存在一种风险就是，你可能会迫使它转为地下，人们还是很小就打工，只是方式更加隐蔽而已。”
At the San Pya fish market in Yangon, Reuters news agency observed girls and boys as young as nine cleaning fish and loading trucks during the 12-hour long overnight shifts recently.
在仰光的San Pya鱼市，路透社最近观察到小到9岁的孩子在长达12个小时的夜班期间清洗鱼类并装车。
Hla Myint has a 15-year-old son working at the market. He said, "I don't want my son to do this kind of hard labor."
Hla Myint 15岁的儿子在这个市场打工。他说，“我不希望我的儿子打这类苦工。”
From the bamboo hut close to the river that he called home, he added, "Whatever they say they would do, or give us, it will never reach here."
他在被他称之为家的河边小竹屋表示，“不管他们说要怎么做，或者给我们什么，在这里永远不会实现。”
I'm Mario Ritter.
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