Govt to make fight against human trafficking a national priority in bid to avoid foreign sanction

[webfact]

Govt to make fight against human trafficking a national priority in bid to avoid foreign sanction
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- THE suppression of human trafficking will be made a national priority on Friday to avoid the risk of Thailand being downgraded under an international protocol against trafficking, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said yesterday.

Prawit was also responding to a comment posted on Facebook by former PM Yingluck Shinawatra, in which she said her government had not failed in addressing problems related to human rights violations and child labour in the fishing industry.

"This government is not saying that the previous government did not act on the issue, but it did not solve the problem on the spot, did not amend regulations required and did not follow international standards," the deputy PM said.

Yingluck posted her comment after Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said last week that human trafficking was still a big problem because her government did little to solve it.

Prawit said: "If the previous government claims it acted on the issue, then we need to look into why fishing trawlers were not registered."

The current government would make the suppression of human trafficking part of the national agenda on Friday so Thailand is not held liable for the violation of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing rules, he said.

He said any officials found benefiting from human trafficking would also be punished.

"This is pursuing an important issue that is considered to be serious by the international community," he noted.

On Sunday, Nopphadol Kannika, an adviser to the Labour Ministry, said that 869 trawlers had been inspected since the military government took power in May last year and that 65 had been seized. In comparison, the previous government only inspected 152 trawlers during its three years in office.

"Legal action was only taken against the operator of one trawler [by Yingluck's government]," he said.

Meanwhile, a one-stop service centre has been set up by a special task force from the ministries of Social Development and Human Security, Labour and Foreign Affairs, plus the Department of Special Investigation at Tantui port in Indonesia's Ambon Island to help Thai fishermen working or stuck there. Some 80 Thai fishermen were registered there yesterday.

In another development, the Anti-Money Laundering Office ordered the seizure yesterday of Bt31 million in assets from three men who smuggled Rohingya people into Thailand and supplied them to trawlers based in Songkhla province. Deputy AMLO secretary-general Suwanee Sawaengphol said some 45 people were found connected to the three men and the 121 items on the seizure list included bank deposits and savings bonds.

Police yesterday also apprehended 27 beggars, 13 of who were Cambodians, in Bangkok and nabbed 78 beggars in Sa Kaew province. Pol Colonel Somsakchai Amornsongcharoen, who leads the Women and Children's Protection sub-division, said police would continue hunting down beggars up until today and all Cambodians in custody would be repatriated.

Police also rounded up some 76 Rohingya people on a train yesterday bound for the Thai-Malaysia border via Narathiwat's Sungai Kolok district.

The Rohingya, who were in third-class carriages, were arrested for failing to present legal documents when the train stopped at Nakhon Si Thammarat's Thung Song district.

Initial inquiries revealed that they had boarded the train at different stations such as Hua Lamphong in Bangkok, Nakhon Pathom, Ratchaburi and Chumphon provinces in hope of reaching Sungai Kolok in Narathiwat province.

Police are looking to see if this group is linked to a human trafficking gang, before having them face legal action at the Immigration Police Bureau and getting them deported.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Govt-to-make-fight-against-human-trafficking-a-nat-30257077.html

-- The Nation 2015-03-31

[webfact]

Dozens of Myanmar migrants arrested on train to Thai south
AFP

BANGKOK: -- Thai police said Monday they had charged 70 migrants from Myanmar and six Rohingya Muslims with illegal entry after they were arrested on a train bound for a southern province bordering Malaysia.

The migrants were taken off the train from Bangkok at around 4:30 am in Nakhon Si Thammarat province when they failed to present valid travel documents, said local railway police sub-inspector Kraisorn Boonlum.

"All of the 76 were charged with illegal entry. The Myanmar ones will be deported back to their country, the six Rohingya must first have their nationalities identified," he told AFP.

Kraisorn said the migrants claimed not to know one another and to have boarded the train bound for Narathiwat province at different stations along the route.

"The Myanmar ones said they wanted to find jobs in the south of Thailand but the Rohingya said they wanted to enter Malaysia," he said.

Thousands of Rohingya -- a Muslim minority group not recognised as citizens in Myanmar -- have fled deadly communal unrest in the country's western state of Rakhine since 2012. Most have headed for mainly Muslim Malaysia.

The six Rohingya migrants, all men in their 20s, and the Myanmar nationals -- mostly adults and a handful of children -- are being held at an immigration centre in Meuang district in Nakhon Si Thammarat.

The authorities are now investigating whether the Rohingya are victims of trafficking.

"The Rohingya said, via a translator, that their relatives in Malaysia paid around 70,000 baht ($2,150) each to Myanmar agents (for their passage) -- but the Myanmar ones said they did not pay anyone," Kraisorn added.

Thailand has long been a hub for people-trafficking, with thousands of Rohingya believed to have passed through the kingdom in recent years.

But they normally arrive in the southwest of the country on rickety boats, rather than taking a train.

Myanmar views its population of roughly 800,000 Rohingya -- described by the United Nations as one of the world's most persecuted minorities -- as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and denies them citizenship.

Thailand's military junta, which took over in a coup last May, has vowed to crack down on human trafficking. In January it said more than a dozen Thai government officials were being prosecuted for the trade.


-- (c) Copyright AFP 2015-03-31

[webfact]

Thailand Detains 76 Migrants from Myanmar

Maesot, Thailand - July 12, 2014: Unknown Karen woman with powder face in Mae La refugee camp in Thailand

The Thai authorities stated on Monday that they found a group of 76 migrants from Myanmar on a train. Six of the migrants were suspected Rohingya. The discovery is a sign that despite the country’s increased efforts to stop trafficking, human smuggling is an issue.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813442-thailand-detains-76-migrants-from-myanmar/

[MZurf]

Govt to make fight against human trafficking a national priority in bid to avoid foreign sanctions, not in a bid to fight human trafficking itself.

It really says it all.....

Edited March 31, 2015 by MZurf

[yellowboat]

Seems like the foreign media is the only power to keep the current government and Thai elites in line.

[rubl]

Seems like the foreign media is the only power to keep the current government and Thai elites in line.

With the activities by the previous government one could say that the current government just continues a policy.

Of course with the current government a wee bit better in keeping the police in check things might improve.

2012-06-05

"The police themselves are frankly predatory. They see migrant workers as an opportunity to extort, abuse, and we have stories of instances where police have been involved in human-trafficking issues.”"

http://aatthai.org/thailand-s-human-downgrade/

[Srikcir]

"This government is not saying that the previous government did not act on the issue, but it did not solve the problem on the spot, did not amend regulations required ..."

"previous government" should have been stated as "previous governments."

I didn't see the Thai military ever express a concern of human trafficking through the sovereignty of Thailand that it was sworn to protect. It certainly never came forward with its own solutions as it seemed satisfied with the status quo. The only action the military took was to file defamation suits against Reuters and two Reuter Thai reported for SUGGESTING that the Thai navy may be implicated in human trafficking activities.

Now the military is the government. It can't continue to ignore the issue, especially since the imposition of foreign sanctions would damage the miltary's reputation.

At a time when the Junta is struggling and losing to recover the economic downturn it and the anti-Yinluck government protesters brought onto the country, Prayut cannot afford further economic challenges while he tries to sell the Junta as the Hero of the People.

[yellowboat]

Seems like the foreign media is the only power to keep the current government and Thai elites in line.

With the activities by the previous government one could say that the current government just continues a policy.

Of course with the current government a wee bit better in keeping the police in check things might improve.

2012-06-05

"The police themselves are frankly predatory. They see migrant workers as an opportunity to extort, abuse, and we have stories of instances where police have been involved in human-trafficking issues.”"

http://aatthai.org/thailand-s-human-downgrade/

For whom ? They are just two rival gangs competing for turf. Doubt the average Thai will win either way. You should start focusing on this government, as references to the past are just to excuse what is happening now. Live in the now.

[Lupatria]

in bid to avoid foreign sanction…

I wonder who convinced them this would probably be a good reason to finally act. The Bank of Thailand?

[yellowboat]

in bid to avoid foreign sanction…

I wonder who convinced them this would probably be a good reason to finally act. The Bank of Thailand?

It is totally shameless. The people, on both sides of the argument have far more character than the elites running the country.

[rubl]

Seems like the foreign media is the only power to keep the current government and Thai elites in line.

With the activities by the previous government one could say that the current government just continues a policy.

Of course with the current government a wee bit better in keeping the police in check things might improve.

2012-06-05

"The police themselves are frankly predatory. They see migrant workers as an opportunity to extort, abuse, and we have stories of instances where police have been involved in human-trafficking issues.”"

http://aatthai.org/thailand-s-human-downgrade/

For whom ? They are just two rival gangs competing for turf. Doubt the average Thai will win either way. You should start focusing on this government, as references to the past are just to excuse what is happening now. Live in the now.

but, but, but Heybruce kept telling me that history teaches us if only to justify his being so anti-PM Prayut.

[rubl]

in bid to avoid foreign sanction…

I wonder who convinced them this would probably be a good reason to finally act. The Bank of Thailand?

It is totally shameless. The people, on both sides of the argument have far more character than the elites running the country.

'elites running the country' ?

Anyway, this government seems to continue the policy of the previous government and even gave cracking down on police officers involved a start. PM Prayut warned the rich fisher boat owners. Of course if he just arrests a few HRW and posters here will condemn him

[dcutman]

Seems like the foreign media is the only power to keep the current government and Thai elites in line.

With the activities by the previous government one could say that the current government just continues a policy.

Of course with the current government a wee bit better in keeping the police in check things might improve.

2012-06-05

"The police themselves are frankly predatory. They see migrant workers as an opportunity to extort, abuse, and we have stories of instances where police have been involved in human-trafficking issues.”"

http://aatthai.org/thailand-s-human-downgrade/

For whom ? They are just two rival gangs competing for turf. Doubt the average Thai will win either way. You should start focusing on this government, as references to the past are just to excuse what is happening now. Live in the now.

but, but, but Heybruce kept telling me that history teaches us if only to justify his being so anti-PM Prayut.

Rubi you should really try to be a bit more sensitive to the fact the previous PM and chairwomen to so many committees was whole heatedly committed to this fight against human trafficking. A perfect example of her leadership.

The UN and the US had called on Friday for an investigation into reports by the South China Morning Post and Reuters, published on Thursday, that revealed a clandestine policy to remove Rohingya refugees from Thai immigration detention centres and deliver them to human traffickers waiting at sea.

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who chairs a government committee on human trafficking, declined to comment on the findings.

"I cannot comment on the Rohingya issue and reaction as this is the responsibility of the Foreign Ministry to handle," she said.

http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1375743/thailands-pm-offers-help-trafficking-probe-myanmar-refugees

This sort of leadership almost brings one to tears.

[PaPiPuPePo]

The title explains it all: "...in a bid to avoid foreign sanction."

I guess it takes the prospect of economic damage to tip the scales (the ones that weigh gold) in favour of doing something, finally.

[Baerboxer]

"This government is not saying that the previous government did not act on the issue, but it did not solve the problem on the spot, did not amend regulations required ..."

"previous government" should have been stated as "previous governments."

I didn't see the Thai military ever express a concern of human trafficking through the sovereignty of Thailand that it was sworn to protect. It certainly never came forward with its own solutions as it seemed satisfied with the status quo. The only action the military took was to file defamation suits against Reuters and two Reuter Thai reported for SUGGESTING that the Thai navy may be implicated in human trafficking activities.

Now the military is the government. It can't continue to ignore the issue, especially since the imposition of foreign sanctions would damage the miltary's reputation.

At a time when the Junta is struggling and losing to recover the economic downturn it and the anti-Yinluck government protesters brought onto the country, Prayut cannot afford further economic challenges while he tries to sell the Junta as the Hero of the People.

You are right that it should be governments. It's disgraceful that the current government and the previous government both link action in this area to avoiding international sanctions. Do neither think that human trafficking is bad per se? Do they have to be told by foreigners what's right from wrong?

The rest is your normal pro Shin claptrap. You really believe that the anti-Thaksin amnesty and puppet regime prostesters and the junta are solely responsible for the economic downturn? Would you like to elaborate on that one? Is Thailand the only country with economic issues at present?

If the Shins has pushed through the tainted amnesty bill, brought their great thinker back, carried on with their rice scam and got their hands on the 2,2 Trillion baht loan, without any controls, as the wanted, how would this have helped the economy?

Please don't suggest they'd have used the 2.2 trillion wisely - they refused to keep (or divulge) accounts on the rice scam. Who knows what they'd have done with their sticky little paws on 2.2 trillion. Bet Thaksin would have been bragging to Forbes about even more gigantic % increases in Shin family wealth somehow.

[Baerboxer]

Rubi you should really try to be a bit more sensitive to the fact the previous PM and chairwomen to so many committees was whole heatedly committed to this fight against human trafficking. A perfect example of her leadership.

The UN and the US had called on Friday for an investigation into reports by the South China Morning Post and Reuters, published on Thursday, that revealed a clandestine policy to remove Rohingya refugees from Thai immigration detention centres and deliver them to human traffickers waiting at sea.

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who chairs a government committee on human trafficking, declined to comment on the findings.

"I cannot comment on the Rohingya issue and reaction as this is the responsibility of the Foreign Ministry to handle," she said.

http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1375743/thailands-pm-offers-help-trafficking-probe-myanmar-refugees

This sort of leadership almost brings one to tears.

A perfect example of the leadership of Yingluck Shiniwattra.

Always someone else's responsibility, never hers.

Negligence - she never did the job! Simply a pretty out for photo shoots and travel.

[Suffinator]

THE suppression of human trafficking will be made a national priority on Friday to avoid the risk of Thailand being downgraded under an international protocol against trafficking, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said yesterday.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the TIP Level 3 was the lowest level a country could achieve ... if that is in fact the case how on earth could it get downgraded?

It's a shame that more time isn't spent on the real issues instead of attempting to make other political parties looking bad on Facebook. Seriously ... get off your mobile phones and try being proactive; that's the only way to solve this problem as finger pointing never achieves anything.

He said any officials found benefiting from human trafficking would also be punished.

I have a problem with the words 'found' and 'punished'. It's common knowledge who the main perpetrators are and yet nobody is 'found'. The few that are 'found' are generally low level lackeys who are invariable moved to in-active posts ... hardly any form of punishment is it.

As with the aviation issues it appears nothing ever gets done until they are threatened with sanctions that ultimately threatens the in-flow of money. It's about time the U.S, U.K and EU stepped in and piled on sanctions so that the message is crystal clear ... no right minded human being will tolerate those who abuse the human rights of others especially when that group is vulnerable.

[farangmick]

There are two sides to every arguement. If you are making a fortune from trafficking and slavery, it is good. For everyone else, especially the slaves and those trafficked it is bad. Too many rich and influential people are making serious money for any real change to occur without serious Western pressure.