Thailand must do more to manage migrants

[webfact]

Thailand must do more to manage migrants
Long-term policy necessary for a lasting impact and to combat human trafficking
Tan Hui Yee Thailand Correspondent In Bangkok

BANGKOK: -- While Thailand had hoped for a better rating in a human trafficking report last Monday, few observers were surprised that it remains lodged in the bottom tier for its anti-trafficking efforts.

The most obvious reason for this is that the United States' annual Trafficking In Persons (TIP) report takes into account the period preceding March 31, before the Thai government started a concerted crackdown on trafficking networks. These efforts began after the horrific discovery of mass graves of trafficked victims on the Thai-Malaysian border in May.

But ongoing court cases related to people smuggling and migrant workers have not done Thailand credit either.

A prominent case involves the trial of two journalists from a small news website called Phuketwan, arising from a defamation lawsuit brought by the Thai Navy. The navy alleged defamation over a paragraph that Phuketwan cited from a Pulitzer Prize-winning story which exposed official complicity in the smuggling of Rohingya migrants through Thailand.

Full story: http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/thailand-must-do-more-to-manage-migrants

-- The Straits Times 2015-08-03

[Jimlove]

But they do their best ...

[steven100]

feed them, cloth them, give them medicine & water and then send them back ...

" STOP THE BOATS "

[bamnutsak]

Hunt is on for 33 slave ships off coast of Papua New Guinea

A fleet of at least 30 fishing trawlers crewed by slaves is being hunted off the coast of Papua New Guinea as the true extent becomes apparent of the trafficking of Burmese men by a massive Thai-run criminal syndicate operating throughout the East Indies.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/01/slave-ships-papua-new-guinea-hunt-burmese-men-trawler

8 fishing 'slaves' pulled from Thai boat in PNG

Authorities in Papua New Guinea have rescued eight fishermen held on board a Thai-owned refrigerated cargo ship, and dozens of other boats are still being sought in response to an Associated Press report that included satellite photos and locations of slave vessels at sea.

[useronthenet]

Only serious sanctions will stop Thailand's wicked ways. Though I doubt this will happen in the near future.

[Time Traveller]

Well, if your navy is towing the migrant boats out to sea or killing them and dumping their bodies in mass graves then it's hard to imagine how you could do any worse at managing migrants.