Ministry of Labour calls for more collaboration against human trafficking

BANGKOK, 16 April 2015 (NNT) - The Ministry of Labour has urged all ministries and sectors to boost cooperation to tackle human trafficking.

Labour Minister General Surasak Kanjanarat said that Thailand must do more to eradicate human trafficking, in order to be removed from the US Human Trafficking Watch List.

General Surasak urged every sector to strive towards the same goal to eliminate human trafficking. A sub-committee overseeing the anti-human trafficking effort will be established to coordinate between related agencies and organizations, which often operate under different regulations.

The Labour Minister said that relevant laws must be strictly enforced, and calls for all organizations involved to carry out joint port inspections.

General Surasak has proposed installing onboard monitoring systems for fishing vessels and implementing harsher sentencing in the Fisheries Act against anyone involved in human trafficking.

He added that the Ministry of Labour is also enforcing the Marine Worker Act and Agriculture Worker Protection Act, which require laborers in the two industries to be at least 18 and 15 years old, respectively.


-- NNT 2015-04-16

Labour Minister General Surasak Kanjanarat is wanting more collobaration due to the reducing kick-backs his army colleaques are now getting, where once it was their sole domain, due to a more internationally focused local media

Any action yet?