Thailand hoping the US will recognise its anti-trafficking work

Last year, Thailand was left in Tier 3, the lowest level in the US Trafficking In Persons (TIP) report which covers countries across the world.
Tiraphol Khunmuang, a spokesman for the Labour Ministry, said a centre headed by the ministry’s permanent secretary to fight human trafficking and illegal labour, had taken action to suppress and prevent trafficking, as well as providing remedies to people affected by such illegal activity.
For example, Cabinet recently approved an amendment to the labour protection law to impose stronger penalties on people who hire underage workers in fishery and other industries, as Thai authorities await the crucial US TIP report for 2016. He said cases in Thailand mostly concern abuses of foreign workers who enter Thailand illegally so authorities have implemented new measures to eradicate this practice.

Stronger penalties

Violators are now subject to stronger penalties including fines and imprisonment as authorities encourage industries to only employ foreign workers brought into the country according to bilateral agreements between Thailand and its neighbours.
Under the proposed new labour law, people who hire workers under 18 to work on fishing vessels will be subject to up to two years in jail and a fine of Bt400,000 to Bt800,000 per worker – or both.
He said the International Labour Organisation and European Union had provided funds to help Thai authorities tackle human trafficking and illegal labour problems in cooperation with Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, which are the major sources of illegal foreign workers here.
In addition to the TIP report, which could lead to trade sanctions by the US, if problems here are not deemed to be adequate, exporters could also face an import ban in Europe. The EU market is a major buyer of Thai seafood – more than Bt20 billion annually. In April last year the EU imposed a “yellow card” warning on Thailand for failing to stop illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing by Thai vessels.
The government says Thai authorities have taken legal action against 34 state officials who were involved in human trafficking, while there are now 317 cases in the justice system, including 39 on the use of illegal labour in the fishery sector.
Overall, 169 human trafficking and related cases are in the courts, while another 177 cases are in the hands of public prosecutors. Saowanee Khommapat, a spokesperson at the Social Development and Human Security Ministry, said officials had submitted an update on these cases and related information to the US State Department on March 31 and the 2016 US TIP report is expected to be released in June.
She said Thailand had done its best to address these issues, but they would have to be evaluated by the US.