Government serious about dealing with human trafficking
The government is paying attention to tackling human trafficking, while security affairs agencies are ready to support its operations, the Defence Ministry said on Monday.
Ministry spokesman General Kongcheep Tantravanich issued the statement after opposition MPs highlighted the 2015 Rohingya trafficking case in Songkhla province during Friday’s special debate in Parliament.
The case had led to several police and military officers being sentenced for corruption and trafficking after the bodies of over 30 trafficked Rohingya were discovered in shallow graves on the southern border.
He said the government is following international human rights principles to help all people without discrimination.
"The government has cooperated with international organisations and networks to tackle human trafficking issues, which also includes prostitution both offline and online, as threatening and harming others is unacceptable," he said.
He added that people can send clues related to human trafficking issues to government agencies, confirming that the government is ready to make efforts to tackle these issues.
Kongcheep added that the government had arrested a lot of suspects involved in the Rohingya trafficking case in 2015, adding it will continue the investigation once it receives more clues.
He said Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has instructed military officers in border areas to arrest anyone who illegally sneaks into Thailand.
He said more officers have been deployed on border areas from where immigrants sneak into the country, especially the Thailand-Myanmar border, adding that surveillance has been increased.
"According to statistics, more than 200 immigrants were arrested daily; on February 20 alone up to 248 Myanmar immigrants were arrested in Kanchanaburi and Chanthaburi provinces," he said.
He explained that the reasons the immigrants had sneaked into Thailand were due to the country's high demand for labourers, the economic slowdown in neighbouring countries and the battle in border areas.
"However, security affairs agencies are ready to reopen the southern border in March, but it depends on the Covid-19 situation in Malaysia," he said.
He added that negotiations on the reopening of the southern border has not been organised yet, but confirmed that Thailand is ready to reopen the border once the negotiation succeeds.