Thailand cracks down on human trafficking

BANGKOK, August 5 (TNA) - As the United States has kept Thailand in its Tier 2 human trafficking watch list for four consecutive years, Thai authorities concerned are speeding up suppressing human trafficking. Representatives of the Thai Ministries of Social Development and Human Security, Labour, Transport, Agriculture and Cooperatives and the Royal Thai Police jointly discussed measures to tackle human trafficking in Bangkok on Monday. Social Development and Human Security Minister Paveena Hongsakula told journalists that the meeting discussed Thailand’s continual presence in the US Tier 2 watch list and human trafficking-related problems in the country, especially in fishery, as surveys on about 54,000 workplaces nationwide have found over 1,000 cases of human trafficking. According to the minister, there is also a problem of non-licensed job brokers who have had workers legalized, which may involve human trafficking. To solve the problem, the minister proposed that the Thai government solve the existing complicated process of nationality verification, improve work conditions of fishery labor and punish illegal job placement firms involving in forced labor and human trafficking. (TNA)