SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SCOM] — December 29, 2014 — In his televised national address on 26 December 2014 in the program “Return Happiness to the People,” Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha stated that he had instructed all relevant agencies to review the effectiveness of anti-human trafficking measures in order to bring the problem under control.
Effective January 2015, he said these agencies must submit monthly reports on their progress in preventing and suppressing trafficking in persons, including in the fishing industry. He said law enforcement would become stricter and better protection would be provided for victims and witnesses.
Moreover, cooperation in the fight against this problem would be enhanced with the private sector, independent organizations, academics, and members of the media. Officials who get involved in human trafficking will face severe punishment or will be dismissed.
The Prime Minister chairs a national committee to deal with the problem at the policy level, with Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister General Prawit Wongsuwon as vice-chairman. He has ordered the formation of five subcommittees: the Subcommittee on Human Trafficking, the Subcommittee on Fisheries and Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing, the Subcommittee on Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Migrant Workers, the Sub-Committee on Women’s Issues, and the Subcommittee on Legal Affairs and Public Relations. All the subcommittees have been told to submit their operation plans to the Prime Minister on 7 January 2015.
The Prime Minister cited the registration of Thai fishing boats as another urgent issue to ease the human trafficking problem in the fishing industry. He stressed the need to step up efforts to lift Thailand from the “Tier 3” status in the US human-trafficking watch list. The consequences of the status could affect the country’s exports of fishery products, valued at 200 billion baht a year.
This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.