Crackdown on human-smuggling continues
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Efforts to crackdown on human trafficking continue, with national police chief General Somyot Poompanmuang yesterday handing over policies to concerned police officials that aim to ensure successful suppression operations.
Somyot called the meeting of related officials from 22 coastal provinces to report the progress of measures they have taken to curb human trafficking.
The country’s report on human trafficking, complied between September 2014 and June this year, was read out.
It includes the US State Department’s 2015 Trafficking in Persons report, which is damning of Thailand, progress in Rohingya trafficking cases and the United Nation’s illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing report. The UN has been highly critical of Thailand’s fishing industry.
Somyot said the country’s continued efforts to suppress human trafficking were not only aimed at persuading the US to upgrade Thailand from the lowest Tier 3 but make Thailand a country widely accepted by the world community for its good practices.
He said the Prayut administration had been able to solve the human trafficking problem with outstanding achievements and concrete results, unlike elected governments that had failed to solve the problem for fear of losing political support.
The National Legislative Assembly’s panel on foreign affairs lashed out at the US government for maintaining Thailand at Tier 3.
Foreign affairs committee chairman Pilaipan Sombatsiri questioned the credibility of the TIP report, saying it failed to correctly respond to Thailand’s numerous measures and concrete fulfilment in cracking down on human trafficking.
She said the US Senate was launching a probe to investigate alleged irregularities over the report because some senators disapproved of its and suspected there was a political motivation behind Thailand’s ranking.
Songsuda Yodmanee, adviser to the committee, said the US and Thailand had been long-time allies but the report reflected the opposite reality.
“As a US alumnus, I am greatly disappointed. I would like the US to make a fair judgement and not link the issue with politics so we can maintain our long-standing friendship,’’ she said.
