Trafficked Cambodians returned from Thai fishing boat 'slavery'

[webfact]

Trafficked Cambodians returned from Thai fishing boat 'slavery'
AFP

Phnom Penh: -- More than 200 Cambodian fishermen rescued from "slave-like conditions" on Thai fishing boats in Indonesian waters returned home on Thursday, some after years of captivity, officials and victims said.

Some 230 fishermen who were trafficked to work on Thai fishing vessels in Indonesian waters have been rescued since May, according to a statement from the Cambodian foreign ministry.

All but 17 of them were flown to Phnom Penh on Thursday morning from Indonesia's Ambon island on a jet hired by the PT Maribu Industries Group, a company representing the Thai boats, Chou Bun Eng, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Interior, told reporters.

The remaining 17 will be flown to Cambodia later Thursday, she said, adding the company had agreed to pay outstanding salaries to the entire group.

"Some of them are in bad health. One cannot walk. His body is partly paralysed," Chou Bun Eng added.

Sam Nak, 29, who was trafficked four years ago to work on a Thai fishing boat off Ambon, described enduring "slave-like conditions" before he was rescued by Indonesian authorities.

"I was forced to work day and night," he told AFP after arriving in Phnom Penh.

"It was like slavery. We had little time to rest," Sam Nak, said, adding that he was owed around $3,000.

The repatriations follow the return of more than 100 fishermen last month from Indonesia's island of Benjina.

In April Indonesia set up a special team to probe allegations of slavery in its fishing industry after nationals from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand were found trawling Indonesia's bountiful fishing grounds.

Thailand, the world's third largest seafood producer, is under international scrutiny after a slew of revelations about rampant exploitation in its fishing industries.

Thai companies have been linked to shadowy fishing operations in Indonesia, where many vessels are suspected of enslaving foreign fishermen -- including Thais.

Cambodians desperate to make money outside of one of Southeast Asia's poorest countries often become trafficking victims.

Last year, a Taiwanese woman was jailed for 10 years by a Cambodian court for trafficking hundreds of people to work on fishing boats off Africa.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2015-06-18

[Jay Sata]

It will be interesting to see who if anyone gets the blame here.

[anon7867763]

At least something is being done in Indonesia but we still have not seen anything being done in Thailand

Edited June 18, 2015 by johnsnapo

[Jay Sata]

The company that represents the Thai fishing boats and flew them home is an Indonesian exporter of tuna.

The question is who owns all these Thai fishing vessels? How does their catch end up in Europe?

Lets hope the EU slap a ban on imports of fish where slavery is suspected.

I guess if the seamen were paid a decent wage and were legal the fishing would not be profitable.

Reuters recently carried this assessment.

Fishermen, ship owners and a senior trade body official all told Reuters the Thai industry would struggle to clean up its act by October, running the risk of an EU embargo on its fish exports if it does not crack down on "pirate" fishing.

At the Thalay Thai seafood market in Mahachai, where around 20 percent of produce ends up in the international market, Wiriya Sirichaiekawat, vice-chairman of the National Fisheries Association of Thailand, said he was sceptical Thailand could register thousands of undocumented fishing boats in time.

"There are 2,000 boats in Thailand that have incorrect licenses," he said. "It will be difficult for the government to get the boats registered within six months."

source http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/23/thailand-eu-fishing-idUSL4N0XK3H920150423

Edited June 18, 2015 by Jay Sata

[SOTIRIOS]

....Thais are lured........

...Cambodians are desperate to make money.....

.....so tiring to hear.....

...meanwhile there are 'thousands of unregistered fishing vessels'......this did not happen overnight.....

...it was allowed...and maintained....

...make it right by calling the non-Thais illegal......

...it boggles the mind....

...who profits from this...the lowly fiherman/laborer......or the conniving fishing vessel owner....

...this is beyond obvious....

..and a true indicator of how all decks are stacked against non-Thais....like it or not....

...remember the mass graves of those poor souls...simply trying to eke out a meagre living....

[fxe1200]

......

"There are 2,000 boats in Thailand that have incorrect licenses," he said. "It will be difficult for the government to get the boats registered within six months."

source http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/23/thailand-eu-fishing-idUSL4N0XK3H920150423

Send out your Coast Guard, check their licenses, and chain every boat without a proper license at the next port. How difficult is that???

[Ulic]

Ban foreign nationals from working on Thai fishing boats. Lengthy jail sentences for fishing boat

captains who are found to have foreign nationals working on there boats whether in Thai waters

or international waters. Government oversight and licensing of all commercial boats and crews.

Boat registrations must list ownership...... I am sure it can be done if there is the will to end this

outrage. Europe must keep Thai feet to the flames.

[Just1Voice]

......

"There are 2,000 boats in Thailand that have incorrect licenses," he said. "It will be difficult for the government to get the boats registered within six months."

source http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/23/thailand-eu-fishing-idUSL4N0XK3H920150423

Send out your Coast Guard, check their licenses, and chain every boat without a proper license at the next port. How difficult is that???

Not enough chains & locks.

[arrowsdawdle]

Prayut to Hung Sen.... "Keep your Cambodian people off our fishing boats, you are causing us to lose face."

[AlQaholic]

it's the damned Burmese again......

[Jimlove]

Dare I say it without being crusified by the Apologists : "A Thai would never do this" ....

[Happy Grumpy]

......

"There are 2,000 boats in Thailand that have incorrect licenses," he said. "It will be difficult for the government to get the boats registered within six months."

source http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/23/thailand-eu-fishing-idUSL4N0XK3H920150423

Send out your Coast Guard, check their licenses, and chain every boat without a proper license at the next port. How difficult is that???

But then you'll be inconveniencing Thais.

Over some dirt-poor Cambodians?

Puh-lease.