'We've done our best,' says PM ahead of verdict on trafficking
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PRIME Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said yesterday his government had done its best to tackle human trafficking - as the US Department of State prepares to release the annual report on Trafficking in Persons (TIP) on Monday.
John Kirby, spokesperson at the State Department, said the TIP report would be released at 10am (9pm Bangkok time) to announce the status of all countries around the world on the handling of human trafficking issues.
Thailand was downgraded last year to the lowest Tier 3 in the TIP report for what the US saw as its poor management of the humanitarian crisis.
Prayut blamed the government he toppled last year for the downgrade. “I came to solve the problem, not to create a problem, but I don’t know what [will be] the result,” he said, “Let it be.”
Prayut said he worked hard over the past year to improve Thailand’s status in the TIP report. He said he elevated trafficking into a national agenda, setting up a task force to solve the problem.
Testimony in the US Congress early this year suggested that the State Department would leave Thailand in the same status for another year – since the measures and action against human trafficking were not sufficient.
Deputy Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said Thailand should be upgraded in the TIP report this year if the US strictly adheres to its own criteria.
“I’m confident in what we have done. The arrest of high ranking officials in connection with human trafficking has proved we did it strictly,” he said.
Asked if the treatment of Uighur refugees recently would have any implications for the TIP report, Don said the two issues had no connection.
“As a good friend of the US, there should be no doubt about Thailand’s action on the trafficking and other issues should be brought into consideration,” he said.
Human trafficking in Thailand and the region became serious issues as thousands of migrants fled from Bangladesh and Myanmar to seek better lives in Southeast Asia. Bangladeshis and Rohingya embarked on dangerous boat journeys across the Indian Ocean, attempting to transit Thailand to Malaysia and Indonesia.
Thailand and Malaysia are on the same Tier 3 level in the TIP report. A leaked report earlier suggested that Malaysia would be upgraded to Tier 2, but there was no hint about Thailand’s status.
