Region should catch slave ships

 Thailand has just signed an agreement with Indonesia to form a joint taskforce to control illegal fishing. Activists say thousands of workers from Southeast Asia are being exploited as slave labourers in the lucrative cross-border trade. Thai companies have been linked to shadowy fishing operations in Indonesia, a bountiful hunting ground for the black-market industry.

Many firms are suspected of enslaving foreign fishermen, hundreds of whom were returned home earlier this month after being discovered by the Indonesian authorities, neglected on islands in the country's remote east. The use of slave labour in the fishing industry was highlighted recently after Indonesian company Pusaka Benjina Resources was accused of mistreating and abusing fishermen in eastern Indonesia. Fishermen from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand were among those said to have been forced to trawl. Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha agreed to cooperate more closely during a meeting on the sidelines of a conference in Jakarta.

But it is not only an issue for Indonesia and Thailand to co-operate against the enslavement of thousands of fishermen from Southeast Asia, but also an affair for Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar as their citizens are being enslaved. It is also a concern for any country if it encounters illegal fishing in its waters.

Illegal fishing is an issue to be handled by all Southeast Asian countries, including Myanmar.