By Hojin Choi

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

BANGKOK, Thailand – The U.S. Human Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report downgraded Thailand to “Tier 3,” the lowest level. Tier 3 also includes over 20 other countries, such as North Korea, Syria, Iran, Malaysia, and so forth. The report is released by the Department of State annually.

Thailand maintained its rank in Tier 2 in 2009, but dropped to Tier 2 Watch List in 2010. The lowest, Tier 3, indicates that the government does not fully comply with the minimum standard set forth in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) and that it is not even making significant efforts to do so. When a country is classified in Tier 3, the U.S. government imposes penalties by placing restrictions on bilateral assistance, including non-humanitarian and non-trade-related foreign assistance. The U.S. may also oppose assistance from international financial institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

In the report, Thailand is reported as a “source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking.” The majority of trafficking victims are “forced, coerced, or defrauded into labor or exploited in the sex trade.” The number of labor trafficking victims is also concentrated into commercial fishing and fishing-related industries. The report says some victims are “forced to beg on the streets.”

The human trafficking problems in Thailand became more known to the world when the Guardian, an English news media, revealed the slave labor in Thai fishing industries in June. The media had investigated a lead for six months regarding “20-hour shifts, regular beatings, torture, and execution-style killings.” The article says some workers were offered methamphetamines to keep them working, and their products are being sold to top global retailers, including U.S.-based Walmart and Costco, French-based Carrefour, and U.K.-based Tesco.

The Thai government appears concerned about the TIP report. Early this year, the Thai government entered a contract with leading U.S. law firm, Holland & Knight, LLP.  The deal called for lobbying to the White House, Congress, and the U.S. Department of State. The contract was intended to persuade these institutions and posit a defense that Thailand is fighting against human trafficking problems.

The Thai government expressed its regret that the TIP report did not recognize the nation-wide efforts to fight against the human trafficking problems. In a statement, one government spokesperson said “Thailand made significant advances in prevention and suppression of human trafficking along the same lines as the State Department’s standards.” According to the Thai government, combatting human trafficking is a “national priority” and human trafficking is “anathema” to the nation’s core values.

Vijavat Isarabhakdi, the Thai Ambassador to the U.S., said in the interview with CNN that 225 defendants were convicted in 2013 for human trafficking. This number represents over four times more than the previous year’s defendants. “I think that we’ve been doing a lot, but we acknowledge the fact that much more needs to be done,” he said.

However, according to the TIP report, it is questionable whether the government’s efforts could indeed have a remedial effect, citing “corruption at all levels.” Some government officials have protected brothels and industries from raids and inspections. Local and national police officers often make protective relationships with the traffickers. Immigration officials and police “reportedly extorted money or sex from Burmese migrants detained in Thailand for immigration violations and sold Burmese migrants unable to pay labor brokers and sex traffickers,” the report said.

 

For more information, please see:

U.S. Department of State – Trafficking in Persons Report 2014

CNN – Tackling Thailand’s human trafficking problem – 21 June 2014

The Guardian – Revealed: Asian slave labour producing prawns for supermarkets in US, UK – 10 June 2014

The Guardian – Thai government condemned in annual US human trafficking report – 20 June 2014

Bangkok Post – Washington downgrades Thailand over human trafficking – 20 June 2014

The New York Times – U.S. Gives Thailand and Malaysia Lowest Grade on Human Trafficking – 20 June 2014