Was the fish you had for dinner caught by slaves? New report raises alarm.
The Christian Science Monitor | 30 May 2013
A new report out by an Environmental Justice Foundation documents widespread use of Burmese forced labor in the Thai fishing industry. The US is one of the largest importers of Thai fish products.
Bangkok, Thailand
Thailand's
multibillion-dollar fishing industry is facing allegations of using
slave labor, following the publication of an investigation into the
exploitation of migrant workers on shrimping ships.
The report, “Sold to the Sea: human trafficking in Thailand's fishing industry,” was published Wednesday by the British-based NGO the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF).
It documents the case of 15 Burmese workers, beaten and abused at the
hands of a Thai fishing crew, who forced them to work more 20 hours a
day for little or no money. The men, who are now in custody after being
rescued, reported seeing other Burmese workers murdered by crew members
on the ships in Kantang in southern Thailand.
However, some analysts doubt the US would actually take
the step to relegate Thailand to a lower status, given the two
countries’ close trade and tourist ties. America is the No. 1 purchaser
of Thai fish products, including tuna and shrimp. In 2011, Thai frozen
and fresh exports to the US were valued at $1.8 billion.
The TIP report, due out next month, has put Thailand on the Tier 2
Watch List for three consecutive years and the US has warned that the
country could face lowered status if promises by the Thai authorities to
clear up the industry are not followed up on. Earlier this month,
Thailand’s deputy prime minister, Surapong Tovichak Chaikul, met with
Secretary of State John Kerry on a visit to the US in which he promised
reforms and urged his counterpart not to downgrade Thailand.
Relegation
to Tier 3 would rank Thailand among the worst countries for trafficking
in the world and could lead to restrictions on US foreign aid and
access to global financial institutions including the World Bank.
Thai authorities are yet to comment on the report but analysts said its findings were unsurprising.
“We have known about these abuses for a long time,” says Phil Robertson, deputy Asia
director at Human Rights Watch. “The Thai authorities have consistently
avoided investigating this issue despite a growing body of evidence.”
The
investigation by EJF is based on interviews with six of the Burmese
workers who were taken into custody by the Thai authorities in March
after five months at sea.
The men said they were deceived by labor
brokers, who promised work and then sold them to the ships’ senior
crew. On board they said they were detained against their will and
regularly beaten.
Two of the men reported seeing at least five
fellow migrant workers tortured, killed, and thrown over board for
trying to escape. Another man said he saw multiple bodies tossed out to
sea by crew members, who forced workers to watch as they beat them to
death.
"We were shocked by the extreme levels of violence
inflicted on and witnessed by migrant men held as captive workers on
these boats,” said Steve Trent, executive director of EJF in a
statement. “This is not an isolated case, but indicative of the
widespread acceptance and use of modern slavery in an industry that
feeds a global appetite for seafood."
The report also documents
collusion between the traffickers and the Thai authorities, who are
accused of failing to properly investigate the case and breaking
procedures by allowing the traffickers access to the victims once they
were in custody. Statements recorded by the Burmese also allege police
forced them to work on a rubber plantation owned by a senior member of
the force and paint a police cell.
"We have been genuinely
surprised by the levels of collusion by agents of the state, who instead
of stopping these awful human rights abuses, are ignoring and even
benefiting from it," Mr. Trent said.
All the Thai fishing boats on high sea must be checked for human slaves...
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell? There are so many cases of Cambodians enslaved on Thai fishing ships. There are many documented reports, rescued and have been going on for years and human rights group just mention 5-6 Burmese victims and not even a mention of Cambodians and even Laos victims? The ignorance of these so called experts. I'm at a lost for words. Wonder why their report is not even use as toilet paper at the state Department.
ReplyDelete