On 20 June 2019, the United States Department of State launched a report on the state of trafficking in persons (Trafficking in Persons Report: TIP report) with an aim to evaluate the standards for the protection of survivors from trafficking in persons in different countries in comparison to the US minimum standards. This report is used as a benchmark by the US and would inform its policy to offer support to Thailand in various aspects. Last year, Thailand was put at Tier 2, meaning that the country’s measures to address trafficking in persons are still not up to the minimum standards set by the US although it was obvious that efforts have been made to address the issue. 

This year, Thailand remains in Tier 2 just like the previous year. The report indicates that Thailand still needs to do more to solve various problems which have given rise to trafficking in persons.  Important issues raised include: 

• The authorities involved with the prevention and suppression of trafficking in persons still fail to ensure effective screening of survivors from trafficking in persons. In certain instances, the officials were reluctant to identify victims as the officials due to fears of impacts on them.
• Last year, Thailand has rescued 631 survivors with 149 of them have yet to be classified as any specific group of survivors from trafficking in persons.
• The state welfare facilities for survivors from trafficking in persons are unable to offer the survivors effective mental rehabilitation and interpretation services.
• Even though Thailand has developed legal measures to facilitate the survivors’ legal fight to demand compensation from the perpetrators, but in the report, there was no mention about the actual amount of compensation the survivors have received from the perpetrators.
• Even though the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act singles out a principle to protect whistleblowers who report cases of trafficking in persons to the authorities. But in the past year, the Thai authorities have allowed the employers or business operators to file defamation charges against the workers and whistleblowers who he brought labour complaints to the authorities.
• Apart from the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, Thailand has developed laws to offer labor protection and prescribe policies on the employment of migrant workers. Still, in reality, some migrant workers continue to face violations, i.e., being charged with a fee by the brokers at a rate much higher than the standard, agricultural sector workers are being paid lower than the minimum wage, a lack of clear guideline for labor inspection in fishery work, and Thailand’s legal restriction which prohibits the right to freedom of association among the migrant workers. Such problems at the practical level have given rise to trafficking in persons in various forms of labor.

As a civil society organization which has been supporting migrant workers and survivors from trafficking in persons from forced labor, the Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF) has found that even though efforts have continually been made by the Thai government to address trafficking in persons, particularly in the past five years since Thailand was put at the lowest tier (Tier 3), the issues of trafficking in persons have still not been solved effectively, particularly in terms of the strict enforcement of the laws, compliance with the spirit of the laws and compensation for the survivors.  

The issues raised in the TIP Report had previously been raised by HRDF to the Thai government and concerned authorities in order to promote access to due rights among the workers and to sustainably address factors have given rise to trafficking in persons, particularly on forced labor. HRDF is concerned that the issue of trafficking in persons will continue unabated unless the Thai government can solve all these problems. HRDF have even been alarmed by the announcement made during the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives’ press conference on 19 June that an urgent effort is being made to revise the 16 Sections of the Royal Ordinance on Fisheries (No.2) B.E.2017 without seeking prior consultation from all stakeholders; Such move might impede the measures for the prevention and suppression of trafficking in persons in sea fishing sector in a long run. 

Therefore, to ensure sustainable solutions, HRDF would like to propose to the Thai government the following recommendations:

• The Thai government should set up a central agency to carry out the inspection of the survivor screening process which is being conducted by local authorities. It would help to ensure proper and effective survivor screening process. Moreover, an effort should be made to enhance access to various rights among those who have been verified as survivors from trafficking in persons and non-survivors who could, after all, be considered an injured party according to other laws.

• The Thai government should accelerate the effort to develop mechanisms and guidelines for legal execution in trafficking in persons cases and assure the survivors that the Thai government would guarantee that they receive sufficient and prompt support while awaiting the compensation after the case is decided. 

• The Thai government should set aside funding to address trafficking in persons appropriately and comprehensively in all stages. An effort should be made to address a shortage of personnel to offer help to the survivors from trafficking in persons including interpretation services, among others. 

• The Thai government should guarantee that the authorities shall enforce the laws properly and adhere to clear guidelines which aim to offer labor protection and address the needs of workers. 

• The Thai government should review the initiative to revise the Royal Ordinance on Fisheries (No.2) B.E.2017 and should first seek consultation from stakeholders, particularly the workers and survivors from trafficking in persons and civil society organizations since some of the proposed revisions including the relaxation of the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) installation since it will affect the measures for the prevention and rescue of survivors from trafficking in persons in fishing sector. 

• The Thai government should put in place, seriously and promptly, a measure to prevent the launch of both civil and criminal suits (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation: SLAPP) against the workers or whistleblowers who have acted in good faith. This can be done in compliance with the spirit of the laws and the state policies for the prevention and suppression of trafficking in persons and the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAP).

• The Thai government should institute concrete policies to provide for cooperation between the authorities and civil society sector working to combat trafficking in persons and forced labor in the effort to prevent and suppress trafficking in persons and to seriously protect and uphold human rights of the survivors.

ที่มาภาพ: แฟ้มภาพ TCIJ