Slavery fight gets a boost
Human trafficking is arguably the worst of the world’s scourges. Around the globe and here at home, men, women and children are bought, sold, traded and exploited for the profit and/or pleasure of others. It has been confirmed that actual slave markets exist today in Libya. But as last week’s front-page news about the raid on a Bangkok massage parlour, Victoria’s Secret Massage, shows, this odious crime also exists just around the corner.
Police and prosecutors allege the parlour crossed the line of legality and decency in several ways. The parlour operators — one is under arrest and six have outstanding warrants against them — apparently forced a 12-year-old Myanmar girl into prostitution.
They allegedly exploited and controlled women from neighbouring countries who had no legal identity papers. They allegedly forced women to have sex with policemen, thus bribing (willing) police and victimising the women, who were given no choice.
The raid, arrest and follow-up action at and around Victoria’s Secret Massage seem to prove two things. First, human trafficking is taking place right under our noses. Second, there are now police and other agencies willing to do something about it.
The issue of human trafficking has been elevated in importance since the military regime came to power in May, 2014. That was in fact the low point for Thailand, with the country ranked among the worst in the world at combatting this immoral and illegal cancer. Then things turned round.
The government openly hopes for another upgrade in the annual US Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, which comes out around mid-year. Work is well under way on Thailand’s submission to the US State Department. That, too, is an annual task, finished in January to meet Washington’s deadline. The documents from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be weighed against quite a lot of others and an anonymous US team will decide where Thailand ends up in the rankings.
That will be somewhere between Tier 1 and Tier 3, where “1” is the best. There are currently 36 countries rated “Tier 1” by Washington. Most are Western democracies, but South Korea and Taiwan both make this grade. There are 13 countries in the depths of Tier 3 and again.
Until last year, Thailand was judged the human-trafficking equal of such human rights duds and failures as North Korea, Syria and Venezuela.
The bulk of countries are either in Tier 2 (“countries making significant efforts”) or with Thailand on the Tier 2-watch list. These are defined by Washington as nations who promised last year to raise efforts to warrant a rating of Tier 2.
The government strongly believes Thailand deserves promotion to Tier 2. “We’re confident,” says Gen Anantaporn Kanjanarat, the Minister of Social Development and Human Security.
The US report brings out the naysayers each year. They accuse Washington of playing politics — elevating its friends and demoting others. Indeed, in its 2015 report, the State Department was caught in the act of promoting Malaysia over Thailand for no objective reason it could explain away.
But then-president Barack Obama desperately wanted more countries to join his Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Malaysia agreed to join the TPP and rose in the TIP rankings.
Thailand opted out and stayed at the bottom of the human trafficking list.
But while there are reasons to criticise the annual US report, its importance cannot be doubted. It is assembled using by far the greatest amount of information.
NGOs, especially the venerable Amnesty International, also produce annual human rights rankings. But the TIP report is the gold standard for measuring continued human slavery in every corner of the globe.
The US TIPs report brings out the naysayers each year.