Net tightens on Thailand abuses

BANGKOK: Forced labour and other rights abuses in Thailand’s fishing industry remain widespread and have, in some aspects, worsened, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported yesterday.

Thailand is one of the world’s biggest seafood exporters. It was given a “yellow card” by the European Commission in 2015 for failing to combat illegal fishing, following multiple media reports exposing brutal slavery. The report found human trafficking and other abuses persist despite the Thai government’s new regulations and vessel monitoring systems.

It described how migrants, mostly from Myanmar and Cambodia, were not protected by Thai laws and were still trafficked into fishing work on Thai vessels while being paid below the minimum wage.

“Despite high-profile commitments by the Thai government to clean up the fishing industry, problems are rampant,” said Brad Adams, the group’s Asia director.

The Thai government’s measures are a mere “theatrical exercise for international consumption,” the report said. An example cited showed officials only spoke to captains and boat owners during their inspections, rarely conducting interviews with migrant workers.

New laws designed to document migrant workers have also created “an environment ripe for abuse” by tying the workers’ legal status to their employers, who hold their workers in debt bondage to prevent them from changing jobs, the report added. – dpa