Trilateral talks on human trafficking this month: PM

[Lite Beer]

HUMAN-TRAFFICKING TRADE
Trilateral talks on human trafficking this month: PM
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Myanmar welcomes initiative to combat 'slave trade'; no response from M'sia

PRIME MINISTER Prayut Chan-o-cha expects three-nation talks with Myanmar and Malaysia to take place this month in a bid to stamp out the region's thriving human-trafficking trade.

Myanmar has welcomed Prayut's call for talks but there has been no response from Malaysian authorities so far.

The Foreign Ministry is arranging a Thai-Myanmar meeting and will proceed with further steps, Prayut said.

The prime minister said there could be joint committees on foreign relations and security set up between Thailand, Myanmar and Malaysia.

Myanmar is the origin of one of the main trafficked ethnic groups, the Rohingya, and Malaysia is a destination of choice for boat people.

He said the long- and short-term measures to tackle the crisis would be similar and were expected to be carried out equally effectively in each country.

"Thailand cannot deal with the issue single-handedly, but it has to be dealt with from the origins in Myanmar and Bangladesh," he said.

Prayut reiterated that a 10-day deadline he had imposed on local authorities was for a complete scrutiny of trafficking activities and locating possible detention camps and was not the timeframe for the long-standing problem to be solved.

Police have arrested a high-profile suspect involved in trafficking Rohingya and demanding ransoms from their relatives.

A police source said Suphoj Muensew was hiding at a home in Trang province.

There were explosives buried around this home, with detonators ready for use, and there were also tunnels and underground rooms with rifle slots, the source said.

Meanwhile, in Dhaka, three people-smugglers accused of trafficking thousands of people were killed in a gunfight with Bangladeshi police yesterday, officers said. Police said the three "notorious" traffickers had died after being shot at during an anti-trafficking raid in the southern coastal town of Teknaf in the Cox's Bazar district, close to the border with Myanmar, AFP reported.

The traffickers were suspected of smuggling thousands of Bangladeshi and Myanmar nationals across rough seas to Malaysia and Thailand.

In related news, 54 Bangladeshis were taken to a local shelter after they were found in Songkhla's Rattaphum district.

Six Bangladeshis were also found at a nearby waterfall. They said that they were brought to Thailand by smugglers, entering the country in Satun and bound for Malaysia.

A total of 96 Bangladeshis and Rohingya have been taken to shelters after hiding on Khao Kaew mountain the past two days, officials said.

Officials believe many more migrants are lost on the mountain, where a mass grave was found earlier this month.

It is believed that the remains are mainly those of Rohingya and Bangladeshis.

Reuters reported yesterday that Myanmar's permanent secretary at the Ministry of Immigration Myint Kyaing said Myanmar had not yet been contacted about the meeting.

"I think we would be interested to take part in that meeting if they officially invited us," said Win Naing Tun, deputy chief of Myanmar's anti-human trafficking police.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, during an official visit to Thailand, yesterday commended Thailand for its "timely response" to the discovery of the mass graves and suspected trafficking camps.

"This is a very tragic finding. These atrocities must be stopped," Bishop told Reuters.

The United States, which has censured Thailand for failing to act against human trafficking, called on Monday for a speedy and credible inquiry into the discovery of the mass grave.

Bangladesh-based English-language The Daily Star reported that Bangladesh's ambassador to Thailand, Saida Muna Tasneem, had reached the first mass grave of human-trafficking victims in Songkhla on Thursday night.

She also met with the Bangladeshi survivors - one adult and one minor - from the mass grave uncovered in the province's Sadao district on May 1. The meeting came after sustained efforts from the Bangladesh Embassy in Bangkok.

The survivors are being kept in a hospital under police protection.

The Bangladesh ambassador is scheduled to meet the governor of Songkhla and the province's police chief to receive information about Bangladeshi nationals and exchange views on how Bangladesh can cooperate with the province's authorities to combat trafficking syndicates that are operating regionally.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Trilateral-talks-on-human-trafficking-this-month-P-30259670.html

-- The Nation 2015-05-09

[NongKhaiKid]

Julie Bishop commends Thailand for its ' timely response ' to the finding of the mass graves and trafficking camps !

Would that be the camps that have been in existence for a period of time and nobody knew anything about, supposedly ?

Does the woman that's the sort of thing LoS will use to say ' see ' !

[thesetat2013]

Julie Bishop commends Thailand for its ' timely response ' to the finding of the mass graves and trafficking camps !

Would that be the camps that have been in existence for a period of time and nobody knew anything about, supposedly ?

Does the woman that's the sort of thing LoS will use to say ' see ' !

I think you misunderstood the text of the comment you quoted. She was commenting on the actions they made once it became public knowledge. Not about the fact that this has been going on for a long time now and is most assuredly still happening here in other places. If this camp had not been found it would still be there doing business as usual and would probably be filling more graves as well with officials and police profiting from it

[NongKhaiKid]

Julie Bishop commends Thailand for its ' timely response ' to the finding of the mass graves and trafficking camps !

Would that be the camps that have been in existence for a period of time and nobody knew anything about, supposedly ?

Does the woman that's the sort of thing LoS will use to say ' see ' !

I think you misunderstood the text of the comment you quoted. She was commenting on the actions they made once it became public knowledge. Not about the fact that this has been going on for a long time now and is most assuredly still happening here in other places. If this camp had not been found it would still be there doing business as usual and would probably be filling more graves as well with officials and police profiting from it

I sincerely hope i misunderstood.

Nothing said about why this was going on undetected for so long or was that not reported ?

[dcutman]

Julie Bishop commends Thailand for its ' timely response ' to the finding of the mass graves and trafficking camps !

Would that be the camps that have been in existence for a period of time and nobody knew anything about, supposedly ?

Does the woman that's the sort of thing LoS will use to say ' see ' !

I think you misunderstood the text of the comment you quoted. She was commenting on the actions they made once it became public knowledge. Not about the fact that this has been going on for a long time now and is most assuredly still happening here in other places. If this camp had not been found it would still be there doing business as usual and would probably be filling more graves as well with officials and police profiting from it

I sincerely hope i misunderstood.

Nothing said about why this was going on undetected for so long or was that not reported ?

The full quote on what she said is in the BBK Post. She didnt say " commend" She said she "acknowledged". As usual Thai reporters likes to put his or her twist on things.

[FangFerang]

Thailand has an "open secret" policy with Malaysia and Indonesia. They have fished out the gulf, and freely fish the others' waters--with lots of payoffs in the pipe.

The slave trade is very cheap labor, the camps are used as threats, and everyone makes money smuggling the seafood through Thailand, from the boat to the slave canneries to the port.

This business model is well thought out and rewards people from the very top down. The EU and US turn a blind eye in most ways because they are also making money. Threats of sanctions I do not expect to materialize. The west is a good bit hypocritical in foreign policy, but in this instance is hyper-hypocritical.

And around and around it goes and goes.

[ourmanflint]

Malaysia will have to come clean at their end too, which more than likely will be a huge embarrassment for them and their self imposed clean image.