The Act aimed to improve the effectiveness of labor inspections on fishing vessels, the provision of medical care, and regular reporting of violations of the act. If you have questions about the 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report, please email, TIPOutreach@state.gov . Thai law allows victims to claim compensation from convicted traffickers, but offenders have refused to pay, for which there is no legal punishment. The government only permitted foreign victims who held a valid visa or work permit at the time of their identification to stay outside government shelters during legal proceedings against their traffickers. Some observers believe that the continued trafficking exists only because of official corruption, a state of affairs that tougher laws do nothing to remedy. [40], Prevention is a strategy that seeks to reduce the risk of people getting trafficked. Masseurs wearing towels to conceal their faces leave Victorias Secret Massage in Bangkok following a raid by the DSI, on Jan 12, 2018. Malaysia charges four Thais over mass graves and human human trafficking Observers reported the government enabled some employers to retaliate against migrant workers and activists seeking to improve working conditions, including by dismissing workers. The Thai government continued to provide impressive protection to foreign victims of sex trafficking in Thailand and Thai citizens who have returned after facing labour or sex trafficking conditions abroad. [33], A 2020 documentary film distributed by Netflix, Seaspiracy, also covers the industry's brutal system of slave labor. There are some bad police and bad military who do these kind of things. Once restrictions ease, theyll be desperate for work. They were not allowed to retrieve personal belongings or identity papers left at the factories and were remanded to a detention facility. United States Thailand remains in Tier 2 for human trafficking The US released the 2019 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report saying the Thai government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period 3 minute read Up next Thai Prime minister opens ASEAN Business Summit Published on 21 June The government created working groups to consider adopting a reflection period for victims and a national referral mechanism and institutionalized the police division dedicated to combatting the online sexual exploitation of children. By law, MOU employers could recover costs associated with recruiting a migrant worker from the new employer when a worker requested to change jobs before the end of their employment contract, and some employers charged these workers to obtain their documents, making them susceptible to debt-based coercion. Following an outbreak of COVID-19 among migrant workers in Samut Sakhon in December 2020, the Prime Minister ordered police to establish a committee to investigate official complicity in the smuggling of migrant workers, which led to the investigation of 33 police officers and state officials. A case in point includes nationwide registration of illegal migrant workers, more stringent regulation of vessels and labour in the fisheries sector, amendments and improvements of relevant laws. In the view of some, little progress has been made. Prasit Jeawkok called himself the Jack Ma of Thailand. The court sentenced Prasit, the 4th suspect, to 5 years in prison for each count. We are proud to announce the signing of an MOU that formalizes our professional relationship with Thai law enforcement. In addition, observers reported Section 6/1 created confusion among government officials investigating labor trafficking, especially in the absence of implementing guidelines. This deterred some undocumented foreign victims who feared risks of arrests and deportation from reporting their exploitation to authorities. Erotics of Authenticity: Sex Trafficking and Reality Tourism His determination has translated into a number of policy directives and measures addressing both the elimination of nurturing conditions and the immediate causes of trafficking of persons in Thailand. Kids are being exploited online at an alarming rate. In addition, shelter staff sometimes required victims to obtain permission to make personal phone calls and often monitored their calls. Corrupt immigration officials facilitate trafficking by accepting bribes from brokers and smugglers along Thai borders. Originally from the same hill tribe village, these two girls are, The problem of human trafficking is a global phenomenon, and we truly believe that only a collective, national and international response will, Destiny Rescues home in northern Thailand buzzed with excitement as girls in fancy dresses had their hair and makeup done, Poverty is a dream killer and an all too familiar part of the story for many girls that come through Destiny Rescue,, One young girl had a dream of becoming a nurse, but after her parents couldnt afford to send her to school anymore,, [emailprotected] 10339 Dawsons Creek Blvd, Suite C, Fort Wayne, IN 46825 260-444-2407 The Royal Thai Navy, in cooperation with other agencies also inspected vessels at sea to identify smuggled migrants, and found 466 cases of migrant smuggling in 2020, but it did not report screening these individuals for trafficking. [51] In 2017, the court sentenced General Manas Kongpan to 27 years in prison. Ensure experienced officers respond to trafficking cases, including by increasing the capacity of the police anti-trafficking unit to assist local districts that do not have experience with investigating trafficking. In addition, workers past negative interactions with authorities and a lack of availability of interpreters at some labor offices deterred migrant workers from reporting exploitation. WebPart 1: Confronting the Child Sex Tradein Southeast Asia. How can you take advantage of other people? The frequent rotation of police officers also meant officers with experience working trafficking cases were rotated out of their positions and often replaced with inexperienced officers. The government provided repatriation assistance to some victims regardless of whether they participated in law enforcement investigations. Tourism While the government made efforts to reduce the length of prosecutions and thereby decrease the amount of time victims had to stay in shelters, the required shelter stays continued to deter foreign victims from cooperating with law enforcement, with some preferring to be deported to their home countries instead. Enforce regular payment of wages, requirements that employers pay recruitment fees of migrant workers, and the rights of employees to retain possession of their own identity and financial documents. [citation needed], Two police officials faced prosecution for trafficking in Burmese migrant workers in Tak province in April 2007. In March 2021, the OAG created a center within its trafficking litigation unit to promote coordination among attorneys, victims, and other agencies. [36], The Bank of Thailand estimates that, as of 2016[update], 1,120,837 Thais worked overseas, but the number of Thais officially registered as working overseas is only 117,291. In 2020, MSDHS designated an area in every trafficking shelter to house and provide services to LGBTQI+ victims. Thailand's Trouble with Human Trafficking Through government-to-government formal migration channels, the government assisted 2,978 Thais to obtain employment abroad in 2020which was significantly fewer than the 11,886 assisted in 2019 due to the impacts of the pandemicincluding by providing job placement assistance. Members of ethnic minorities, highland persons, and stateless persons in Thailand have experienced instances of abuse indicative of trafficking. In 2007, the Thai government disseminated brochures and posts in popular tourist areas such as Chiang Mai, Ko Samui, Pattaya, and Phuket warning tourists of severe criminal charges for the procurement of minors for sex. The government utilized administrative punishments against some suspected complicit officials rather than criminally investigating and prosecuting them. The sex industry is moving online too. Coordinator for the Arctic Region, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, Office of International Religious Freedom, Office of the Special Envoy To Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Office of the Science and Technology Adviser, Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial Services, Bureau of Information Resource Management, Office of Management Strategy and Solutions, Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, U.S. WebThe Government of the United Kingdom (UK) fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. "[20]:43 Thailand's downgrade has focused the attention of human trafficking and environmental organisations on tracking Thailand's progress on the issue. The government also assisted 20 foreign survivors who could not return to their country of origin to resettle in a third country. [4]:366, Previous Thai anti-trafficking legislation that was used during the reporting period defined "trafficking" only in terms of sexual exploitation and allowed only females and children to be classified as victims eligible to receive shelter or social services from the government. According to Paween, "Influential people [are] involved in human trafficking. This meant many workers continued to work without legal status and were likely at risk of exploitation, including debt-based coercion, by brokers and employers. A lack of clear guidance to measure work and rest hours for workers aboard fishing vessels heightened their risk of trafficking. WebA new report by Human Trafficking Search maps the intersections of modern slavery and the tourism and travel sector by examining the industrys direct and indirect connections [13], "Thailand's fishing industry is rife with trafficking and abuse". Printable version 2018 Trafficking in Persons Report - Thailand THAILAND: TIER 2 The Government of Thailand does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. [13] On-going flaws in Thailand's efforts to protect workers as well as insufficient sustainable fishing policies were cited by the EU as they kept Thailand on the yellow card watchlist after reexamining Thai fishing practices in the first half of 2018. [9] Thailand offers bounties for the arrest of foreign traffickers operating in its territory. However, the government did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period, even considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its anti-trafficking capacity. Vessel owners, brokers, and senior vessel crew subject Thai, Burmese, Cambodian, Vietnamese, and Indonesian men and boys to forced labor on Thai and foreign-owned fishing boats. [45], The discovery in early-May 2015 of two dozen bodies from shallow graves in the mountains of southern Thailand, a discovery that has exposed a network of jungle camps run by traffickers who allegedly held migrants captive while they extorted ransoms from their families, has seemingly galvanised Thailand into action. A draft ministerial regulation would reduce the legal minimum age of relatives of a vessels captain or owners permitted to work on fishing vessels from 18 to 16; NGOs expressed concern that due to inadequate oversight to ensure that children working on fishing vessels were in fact relatives of adult crew members, this change may put children at risk of forced labor on fishing vessels. Titanic Tourist Sub: Titan CEO Complained About 'Obscenely PIPO centers performed inspections to verify whether fishing vessels were operating legally and implemented a risk-based assessment system to identify target vessels for inspection. RTPs anti-trafficking in persons divisions (ATPD) reportedly did not have a sufficient number of officers to respond to the majority of trafficking cases throughout the country, including to inexperienced local police. In 2019, an In a 2019 interview, the Titan's maker lamented "obscenely safe" diving security regulations. Phillip Martin / WGBH By Phillip [19], In the US State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report, 2014 (TIP), the US government lowered Thailand's human trafficking ranking to "Tier 3" , the lowest possible. In addition, the Deputy Prime Minister chaired a committee to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the governments anti-trafficking efforts. Human traffickers in Thailand ignore court orders to compensate victims in more than 99% of cases in recent years. Employers confiscate workers identity documents as a means to compel workers to remain in their jobs, especially in agricultural plantations, often in addition to paying below the minimum wage and failing to provide workers a day off. The 2015 SOP on the identification, protection, and referral of victims authorized foreign trafficking victims with a court order to receive repatriation assistance and support services regardless of cooperation with a criminal complaint. Human Trafficking: One Town In Thailand - WGBH.org MSDHS trafficking shelters did not allow some victimsincluding adultsto leave without permission, which was determined on a case-by-case basis; only victims who received permission to work outside shelters could leave the shelter on a regular basis for work. The government also permitted migrants to obtain 30-day and 90-day border passes to work in non-seasonal agricultural or manufacturing jobs, including within 10 developing special economic zones, but such temporary working arrangements did not provide workers access to social protections. [5] At the local level, advocacy organizations must be included in the development of informational programs and awareness campaigns about the rights of trafficked persons, and how they can obtain help and services to meet their physical and mental health needs. In this webinar we will cover Thailand is 1 in 5 countries with the highest human trafficking In early 2020, an estimated 60,000-200,000 migrant workers departed Thailand prior to and following pandemic-related border closures. The CAHT has eight full-time attorneys devoted to coordinating the prosecution of all trafficking cases in Thailand. Some government officials profit from bribes and direct involvement in extortion from and exploitation of migrants. This threatened an EU ban on Thailand's EU seafood exports if it failed to clean up its fishing industry. [8], Prosecution is bringing the perpetrators and traffickers to trial so that the victims are ensured justice for their case. The MFA sent psychologists to provide training to Thai volunteers in Taiwan helping Thai trafficking victims, organised a workshop amongst Thai translators under the "Help Thais" program in Singapore, and coordinated translators to assist 36 Thai trafficking victims arrested in Durban, South Africa. [37], Working overseas is increasingly popular among Thais. Four Thai nationals are charged under Malaysia's anti-trafficking laws in connection with the 2015 discovery of mass graves believed to contain the remains of Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshis. In cases involving forced labour, the 1998 Labor Protection Act allows for compensatory damages from the employer, although the government offers no legal aid to encourage workers to avail themselves of this opportunity; in practice, few foreign labourers are able to pursue legal cases against their employers in Thai courts. NGOs reported the regulations on recruitment fees were poorly defined and enforced, and recruitment agencies and brokers still required workers to pay recruitment fees and transportation costs. However this occurred less frequently in 2020; the trafficking litigation unit of the office of the attorney general (OAG) did not find sufficient evidence of trafficking in approximately 7 percent of cases with arrested suspects referred to them by law enforcement in 2020, which was a decrease compared to 18 percent in 2019. [9], In 2017, the government provided more than 10.2 million baht (US$314,110) to victims and witnesses through various government funds, compared to 9.2 million baht (US$280,980) in 2016. "The problems of deception, tricking people to work as forced labour or in the sex industry are more prominent," according to Kritaya Archavanitkul, a professor at Mahidol University's Institute for Population and Social Research. [48], Corruption and complicity at the highest levels of the Thai government continue to impede investigatory and prosecutorial efforts as underscored by the flight in December 2015 of Thailand's most senior human trafficking investigator to Australia, where he will seek political asylum. WebJeremy Douglas: Im standing in northern Thailand, in the Golden Triangle, with Laos and Myanmar directly behind me on the banks of the Mekong River.Its one of the biggest drug Despite reports children were exploited in forced labor in other sectors, such as agriculture or domestic work, the government did not identify any additional child labor trafficking victims in 2020. The government also facilitated the return of more than 80,000 migrant workers from Myanmar to voluntarily return home. The government operated seven child advocacy centers (CACs), which served as child-friendly spaces where law enforcement, NGOs, and social workers could conduct forensic interviews of child trafficking victims. Contacts reported some Rohingya migrants, including potential trafficking victims, were identified as illegal aliens by Thai authorities, detained indefinitely or deported to Burma where they likely faced retribution or hardship. Many Thai people seek easy, but illegal, ways to work in other countries. The 2018 Royal Ordinance prohibited employers from deducting more than 10 percent of workers monthly salaries for personal expenses and the retention of travel or other personal documents; the law prescribed penalties of fines ranging from 10,000-100,000 baht ($334-$3,340) and up to six months imprisonment for employers who violated these rules. Of survivors rescued via covert missions in 2021, 63% were found on the internet. However, NGOs reported that fees associated with obtaining renewed work permits likely deterred some workers from applying for these permits and contributed to debt-based coercion, and that workers faced barriers applying due to the requirement or relied on brokers to assist them to register. Some victims were reluctant to participate in prosecutions due to fears of detention and extended shelter stays, a lack of adequate services, and fears of experiencing retaliation from traffickers. Employers in fishing and seafood processing often made confusing wage deductions for documentation fees, advances, and other charges, making it difficult for workers to account for their wages accurately. The Prime Minister oversaw the governments anti-trafficking efforts through the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Committee, which coordinated policies and strategies across agencies. Ninety-nine per cent of the girls never want to be in this situation, one of our rescue agents says. In March 2008, a team of labour ministry, immigration, police, and NGO representatives raided a shrimp processing factory in Samut Sakhon and found 300 Burmese migrant workers confined to the premises and working in exploitative conditions. In addition, officials often did not understand how to apply Section 6 and Section 6/1 in labor trafficking cases. The 2016 Beggar Control Act provided for health and social services to individuals engaged in begging activities, including trafficking victims. The government did not report identifying any cases of trafficking through these efforts but issued corrective orders in 144 cases and initiated prosecution in two cases. As part of the governments pandemic response, all agencies were required to reduce spending by 10 percent. Consider legal alternatives to foreign victims placement in shelters, such as enabling victims to exit the shelter system when they are ready to pursue outside employment opportunities. Research published in 2019 and 2020 found that between 14 and 18 percent of migrant fishermen were exploited in forced labor in the Thai fishing industry, indicating traffickers exploited thousands of workers on fishing vessels. Some government officials are directly complicit in trafficking crimes, including through accepting bribes or loans from business owners and brothels that exploit victims. Tourists tapped to fight human trafficking - Bangkok Post AMLO issued orders to seize approximately 1.2 million baht ($40,110) in assets from two officials in trafficking cases in 2020. It conducted campaigns through newspapers, television, radio, social media, billboards, and handouts to raise public awareness throughout the country. [7], Thailand is also considered a transit country. However, it did not prohibit employers and recruiters from charging migrant workers with some costs related to their recruitment, such as expenses for passports, medical checks, and work permits. Many Rohingya refugees who escaped the political oppression in Myanmar were stuck at Thai immigration or were captured along the shore or had their boats pushed back to sea. WebThe Thai tourism body said in March that Thailand is aiming to move forward as a quality destination and it strongly opposed any form of sex tourism. Foreign victims who In some cases in which victims had returned to their home countries, the government used electronic transfers to enable victims to access funds without returning to Thailand. According to the Human Trafficking Report of 2014, Thailand is a Tier 3 country. [35], The Thai government identified 720 trafficking victims of all types in 2015, up from 595 in 2014. The Government of Thailand does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so. The government allows all female trafficking victims, Thai and foreign, to receive shelter and social services pending repatriation to their country of origin or hometown. In addition, Thailands criminal defamation laws continued to allow companies to pursue criminal charges against potential victims and advocates, including through strategic lawsuits against public participation, which resulted in advocates facing years of legal harassment. Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, on April 12, 2017. During this period, MDTs conducted victim identification interviews, and formal identification by MDTs was necessary for victims to obtain a legal right to services, including access to the governments trafficking shelters. Thailand meanwhile, convicted 62 people, including nine Thai officials, of trafficking crimes. Four key sectors of the Thai economy (fishing, construction, commercial agriculture, and domestic work) rely heavily on undocumented Burmese migrants and other ethnic minority groups from Myanmar, including children, as cheap labourers.