Trafficking in Person report released today

[webfact]

Trafficking in Person report released today
By The Nation

 

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson/AFP

 

The US State Department will release the 2017 Trafficking in Person (TIP) report on Tuesday at 10.30am on Washington time, a statement said.

 

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will unveil the report at the US Department of State and will be joined by an advisor to the President, Ivanka Trump.

 

Thailand, which is currently rated on tier two on the watchlist (tier three is the worst), is expected to be upgraded as officials claimed they have done enough to improve the situation.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/breakingnews/30319214

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-06-27

[webfact]

Don defends anti-trafficking efforts ahead of US watch-list release
By The Nation

 

File photo: Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai

 

BANGKOK: -- Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai has said the United States’ annual report on Trafficking in Persons, to be released later today (Tuesday), will not affect Thailand’s efforts to curb slavery.

 

Thailand, currently listed in Tier 2 on a three-level watch list in which Tier 3 is reserved for countries doing little or nothing about TIP, is expected to be upgraded. Officials claim they’ve done enough to improve the situation here.

 

“We don’t know what our ranking will be, but we don’t care,” Don said earlier Tuesday. “What really matters is whether we accomplish our agenda.” 

 

Don said the fight against trafficking has been on the government’s agenda since 2015.

 

The US State Department is scheduled to release the report at 9.30pm Bangkok time. It assesses government efforts around the world to combat human trafficking.

 

This year’s report, the 17th issued, covers 187 countries and territories, including the US itself.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30319220

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-06-27

[nausea]

Oh goody, no doubt the Thai/Myanmar human trafficking problem will be confirmed as solved, a feather in the cap there.

[whatawonderfulday]

1 minute ago, nausea said:

Oh goody, no doubt the Thai/Myanmar human trafficking problem will be confirmed as solved, a feather in the cap there.

Problem solved as they know bring them in from Laos or Malaysia rather than directly from Burma. Additional transport costs obviously recovered further down the line !!!

 

But seriously this Thai mouthpiece must be seriously worried to speak out in advance of any announcement.

[Cadbury]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

“We don’t know what our ranking will be, but we don’t care,” Don said

So if Thailand is relegated to the three-level list they won't care. I think most people know that.

[spidermike007]

Can Don please provide some evidence that something has been done to improve this dire situation? Please. Anything? Is Thailand still using slaves aboard the hundreds if not thousands of fishing boats, which travel as far away as Indonesia? What about the other industries that use slave labor, and deal in human trafficking? Why do you say it is improving? Is there anything behind your rhetoric? Any substance at all? And if so, why not share it? 

 

All talk, and no action make Don, and Little P. two very dull boys indeed, with so little in the way of credibility. 

[Srikcir]

40 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Can Don please provide some evidence that something has been done to improve this dire situation? Please. Anything? Is Thailand still using slaves aboard the hundreds if not thousands of fishing boats, which travel as far away as Indonesia? What about the other industries that use slave labor, and deal in human trafficking? Why do you say it is improving? Is there anything behind your rhetoric? Any substance at all? And if so, why not share it? 

 

All talk, and no action make Don, and Little P. two very dull boys indeed, with so little in the way of credibility. 

Here is what the Minister of Foreign Affairs says about what the Thai government has done.

http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/news3/6885/75066-Thailand’s-Trafficking-in-Persons-Report-2016.html

Could be enough effort to please the US.

[Srikcir]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand, currently listed in Tier 2

That is misleading if not false.

The Tier structures is as follows: Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 2 Watch List and Tier 3.

 

Thailand in 2016 moved from Tier 3 to Tier 2 Watch List but not to Tier 2.

Tier 2 Watch List is the same as Tier 2 but with additional caveats (pg 39 Report):

•  the absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is very significant or is significantly increasing;
•  there is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the previous year, including increased investigations, prosecution, and convictions of trafficking crimes; increased assistance to victims; and decreasing evidence of complicity in severe forms of trafficking by government officials; or
• the determination that a country is making significant efforts to meet the minimum standards was based on commitments by the country to take additional steps over the next year

https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/258876.pdf

If Thailand improves in 2017 Report it might advance to Tier 2 instead of Tier 1 and the US continues pressure for improvement.

[spidermike007]

44 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

Here is what the Minister of Foreign Affairs says about what the Thai government has done.

http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/news3/6885/75066-Thailand’s-Trafficking-in-Persons-Report-2016.html

Could be enough effort to please the US.

 

Thanks for that. Fascinating information. I wonder how much of it is accurate. More to the point, I wonder if anyone of significance (anyone of wealth, anyone who is well connected, or anyone currently within the government?) has been convicted and sentenced? It mentioned 45 government officials since 2013. Are any of them within the current administration or within the active Army ranks? Now, that would be fascinating information. It seems as if the focus is usually on former officials. And of the criminal and disciplinary action that was taken against the 45 officials, and 10 policemen, were the fines significant, and did any of this result in imprisonment? If so, for how long? 

 

 

In 2016 the Royal Thai Police uncovered and investigated 333 cases and the Office of the Attorney-General indicted 301 cases, or an increase of 5 percent and 19.92 percent respectively compared to those in 2015.  The number of convicted offenders in 2016 was 268, which rose 30.7 percent in comparison to 205 in 2015.  Assets seized from traffickers increased by 307 percent to 22 million USD compared to 2015.  Criminal and disciplinary actions were also taken against 45 government officials since 2013, including 10 police officers in 2016.  

Edited June 27, 2017 by spidermike007

[spidermike007]

And can the US be trusted, to operate without an agenda? The relationship between Thailand and the US deteriorated significantly under Obama. His foreign policy was poor, and less than delicate. His ambassador here was a clumsy fool, who said things in public that deeply embarrassed Thailand (an easy thing to accomplish). So does Cheeto have an agenda here? In regard to the 2016 report, where this country was upgraded from the lowest tier 3 status to a tier 2 status nation. Some of the commentary from experts on this issue:

 

However, the report also pointed to evidence of continued trafficking in the fishing, sex, agriculture and domestic work industries, as well as ongoing government complicity in trafficking crimes, which rights groups claim seriously impedes efforts to eradicate trafficking and slavery. Steve Trent, executive director of the Environmental Justice Foundation, which has published a series of investigations into the multi-billion dollar Thai seafood sector, said the upgrade was “the wrong decision at the wrong time” and called on more durable reforms to ensure that “corrupt practices, which have driven so many abuses, are addressed”. “While it is certainly clear that actions have been taken and some advances have been made and that these should be acknowledged and applauded, EJF’s view, informed by our active investigations at sea and on shore, is that these advances have not eradicated the trafficking, forced, bonded or slave labour in the seafood sector,” said Trent.

 

Numerous reports and investigations, not least those by the Guardian, have found that slavery, trafficking, murder and corruption at all levels of the Thai government still pervade Thailand’s fishing industry.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/jun/30/thailand-us-trafficking-in-persons-report-2016-fury?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other