ขอแสดงความยินดีกับ 21 แรงงานไทยในเกาะอัมบน อินโดนีเซีย ที่จะได้กลับถึงประเทศไทยในค่ำวันนี้ ในจำนวนนี้บางคนกลายเป็น คนตกเรือ ในเกาะอัมบนนานกว่า 7 ปี ต้องใช้ชีวิตเป็นคนผี คนเร่ร่อน นอนตามห้องน้ำ กลับไทยไม่ได้เพราะมาด้วยเอกสารปลอม มาจากค่าหัวของนายหน้าขบวนการค้ามนุษย์ มีเรื่องราวมากมายจากปากคำของคนเหล่านี้ที่ได้สัมภาษณ์ไว้ ขอบคุณรัฐบาลไทย สถานทูตไทย ณ.กรุงจาร์กาตา และมูลนิธิ LPN ตม.เกาะอัมบน ที่ช่วยเหลือพวกเขา
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Thapanee Ietsrichai
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Published March 27, 2015 Associated Press
Source: Fox News
BANGKOK – Thailand's junta leader has vowed to take legal action against companies using forced labor, after an Associated Press investigation revealed that fish caught by enslaved migrant workers was being exported from Thai ports to global markets.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the English-language Bangkok Post newspaper, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha acknowledged he had seen this week's AP article and said his government was stepping up efforts to combat the scourge and prosecute those responsible.
"If they still continue to exploit their fellow human beings, they should not be given any licenses to operate businesses in Thailand, and they must receive the punishment they deserve," Prayuth said.
The AP reported on Wednesday that men were held in a cage along with hundreds of people who are trapped on the remote Indonesian island village of Benjina, and tracked seafood they caught to Thai exporters who then sell to global markets, including America.
The more than 40 men the AP interviewed on Benjina said they were brought to Indonesia from Thailand and put on trawlers with Thai captains who forced them to drink unclean water and work 20- to 22-hour shifts with no days off. Almost all of the men, who are from Myanmar, said they were kicked, whipped with toxic stingray tails or otherwise beaten if they complained or tried to rest. They were paid little or nothing.
The investigation prompted the U.S. government and major business leaders to renew their calls on the Thai government to crack down on slavery in its fishing fleets, and to punish people who force migrant workers to catch seafood that can end up in the United States. Thailand's biggest seafood company, Thai Union Frozen Products, announced that it immediately cut ties with a supplier after determining it might be involved with forced labor and other abuses. Thai Union did not name the supplier.
Thailand, which has been under military rule since a May 22 army coup, was blacklisted by the U.S. State Department last year for failing to meet minimum standards in fighting human trafficking. The government says it is cleaning up the problem and has laid out a plan to address labor abuse, including new laws that mandate wages, sick leave and shifts of no more than 14 hours.
At least 1.6 million foreign migrant workers, most of them employed in the fishing industry, are now registered with the government and have the same labor protections as Thai workers, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ministry says the industry will be more closely monitored, with surveillance systems scheduled to be installed on more than 7,700 fishing vessels by June.
On Thursday, the country's junta-appointed lawmakers voted unanimously to create tougher penalties for violating the country's anti-human trafficking law. Causing a person's death through human trafficking could bring the death penalty, and those who cause severe injury face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a fine of 400,000 baht ($12,300).
The bill had been under debate for several weeks, and is part of the government's efforts to show it is getting tough on the issue.
The Post quoted Prayuth as thanking members of the media for shedding light on the issue. "I know that every one of you wants to do your job to the best of your ability to help the victims. I think we are on the same team," he said.
But Prayuth and his government have delivered differing messages on the issue.
Earlier this week, Prayuth urged journalists not to report on human trafficking without considering how the news would affect the country's seafood industry and reputation abroad. He sarcastically suggested that journalists who ignored him might be executed; in Washington on Thursday, State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said Thursday that the U.S. was troubled by the comment.
On Thursday, Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan, Thailand's deputy prime minister, denied there were any slaves working on Thai-flagged fishing boats, instead saying the problems occurred in Indonesia.
"We don't use any (slaves) right now. None. But those in Indonesia, I don't know," Prawit told reporters following a meeting with officials to help repatriate Thai fishermen stranded in Indonesia. "Do not blame us. Right now we don't have (any). I guarantee there's none."
Indonesia, meanwhile, has vowed to crack down on those responsible within its territory. "We would like to ensure you that we will take legal measures to address what happened in Benjina and other places," said Indroyono Soesilo, coordinating minister of Maritime Affairs.
___
AP writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.
BANGKOK – Thailand's junta leader has vowed to take legal action against companies using forced labor, after an Associated Press investigation revealed that fish caught by enslaved migrant workers was being exported from Thai ports to global markets.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the English-language Bangkok Post newspaper, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha acknowledged he had seen this week's AP article and said his government was stepping up efforts to combat the scourge and prosecute those responsible.
"If they still continue to exploit their fellow human beings, they should not be given any licenses to operate businesses in Thailand, and they must receive the punishment they deserve," Prayuth said.
The AP reported on Wednesday that men were held in a cage along with hundreds of people who are trapped on the remote Indonesian island village of Benjina, and tracked seafood they caught to Thai exporters who then sell to global markets, including America.
The more than 40 men the AP interviewed on Benjina said they were brought to Indonesia from Thailand and put on trawlers with Thai captains who forced them to drink unclean water and work 20- to 22-hour shifts with no days off. Almost all of the men, who are from Myanmar, said they were kicked, whipped with toxic stingray tails or otherwise beaten if they complained or tried to rest. They were paid little or nothing.
The investigation prompted the U.S. government and major business leaders to renew their calls on the Thai government to crack down on slavery in its fishing fleets, and to punish people who force migrant workers to catch seafood that can end up in the United States. Thailand's biggest seafood company, Thai Union Frozen Products, announced that it immediately cut ties with a supplier after determining it might be involved with forced labor and other abuses. Thai Union did not name the supplier.
Thailand, which has been under military rule since a May 22 army coup, was blacklisted by the U.S. State Department last year for failing to meet minimum standards in fighting human trafficking. The government says it is cleaning up the problem and has laid out a plan to address labor abuse, including new laws that mandate wages, sick leave and shifts of no more than 14 hours.
At least 1.6 million foreign migrant workers, most of them employed in the fishing industry, are now registered with the government and have the same labor protections as Thai workers, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ministry says the industry will be more closely monitored, with surveillance systems scheduled to be installed on more than 7,700 fishing vessels by June.
On Thursday, the country's junta-appointed lawmakers voted unanimously to create tougher penalties for violating the country's anti-human trafficking law. Causing a person's death through human trafficking could bring the death penalty, and those who cause severe injury face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a fine of 400,000 baht ($12,300).
The bill had been under debate for several weeks, and is part of the government's efforts to show it is getting tough on the issue.
The Post quoted Prayuth as thanking members of the media for shedding light on the issue. "I know that every one of you wants to do your job to the best of your ability to help the victims. I think we are on the same team," he said.
But Prayuth and his government have delivered differing messages on the issue.
Earlier this week, Prayuth urged journalists not to report on human trafficking without considering how the news would affect the country's seafood industry and reputation abroad. He sarcastically suggested that journalists who ignored him might be executed; in Washington on Thursday, State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said Thursday that the U.S. was troubled by the comment.
On Thursday, Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan, Thailand's deputy prime minister, denied there were any slaves working on Thai-flagged fishing boats, instead saying the problems occurred in Indonesia.
"We don't use any (slaves) right now. None. But those in Indonesia, I don't know," Prawit told reporters following a meeting with officials to help repatriate Thai fishermen stranded in Indonesia. "Do not blame us. Right now we don't have (any). I guarantee there's none."
Indonesia, meanwhile, has vowed to crack down on those responsible within its territory. "We would like to ensure you that we will take legal measures to address what happened in Benjina and other places," said Indroyono Soesilo, coordinating minister of Maritime Affairs.
___
AP writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.
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| Picture from Bangkok Post |
