Children Toil to Feed Myanmar's Booming Economy

A child uses a fishing net as he and others work at a fish farm in Htantapin, outside Yangon in Myanmar, on Feb. 18, 2016. 

The opening up of the Myanmar economy in 2011 triggered a spike in demand for labor. Many children now work in fish farming and processing.

At Yangon's San Pya fish market, the country's largest, children as young as nine are employed to clean and process fish. They also unload boats and trucks during 12-hour overnight shifts.

A boy works at a fish farm in Htantapin township near Yangon on Feb. 18.

Workers harvest fish at a farm on Feb. 18.

The National League for Democracy (NLD), the party led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, has said tackling child labor was one of its main goals. The NDL’s landslide victory in November elections ushered in Myanmar’s first civilian government in 54 years.

Children unload fish from a boat at San Pya fish market on Feb. 16.

Workers hold on to a net as they harvest fish in Htantapin on Feb. 18.

Kyaw Khine Soe, a 16-year-old worker, sits on a boat at Yangon's San Pya fish market on Feb. 16.

Workers process fish at a seafood exporting factory in Hlaingthaya Industrial Zone, outside Yangon on Feb. 19.

A boy chops fish at a factory on Feb. 19.

The law in Myanmar bars children under the age of 13 from working in shops or factories, and stipulates that teenagers aged 13-15 should not work more than four hours a day or at night.

Children collect fish from the floor at a factory on Feb. 19.

A worker uses his phone at a market on Feb. 15.

Kyaw Khine Soe, 16, rests on a dock at the end of his shift at San Pya fish market on Feb. 16.

Kyaw Khine Soe, (R), sits at home with his family on Feb. 17.

A vendor holds his baby while waiting for a bus after delivering fish to San Pya market on Feb.15.