Thailand’s Fishing Industry Linked to Slavery

Thailand, one of the two countries down-graded last month on the U.S. human trafficking watch list has failed at protecting the population from being forced into slavery. As officials turn the other cheek, boys and men are trapped in a nightmare, laboring miserably on decrepit fishing vessels for prawns sold to British and American supermarkets.

The U..S Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report (TiP), which evaluates countries based on their success in combating the activities of traffickers in their jurisdiction, down-graded Thailand from Tier 2 to Tier 3, the worst possible rating, focusing the world’s attention on their lack of effort in fighting slavery.

According to an investigation conducted by The Guardian, the extensive role played by Thai authorities, fishermen and traffickers has been uncovered with the imprisonment of thousands of Rohingya in illegal, deadly jungle camps.

The Rohingya are Indo-Aryan peoples from the Rakhine State, Myanmar, who speak the Rohingya language. In recent years, Myanmar has been accused of human rights violations and ethnic cleansing instigated by the ethnic Rakhine Buddhist, victimizing the stateless Muslim Rohingya through looting, arson, evictions and outright cold blooded murder. For many Rohingya the choice was simple: stay and die, or leave by boat.

The Rohingya attempting to escape the violence have no option but to flee to the seas, seeking passage by boat down the coast of Thailand to relative safety in Malaysia, but in many cases, these refugees were intercepted and sold like animals into slavery on the Thai fishing boats. Often victims were escorted into jungle camps by Thai authorities where they were held in transit.

The Thai fishing industry is a multibillion dollar business estimated at $7.3 billion a year. The slavery trade hidden behind the frozen shrimp packages on the shelves of Tesco, Walmart, Carrefour and Costco stores is so profitable that many fisherman in Thailand have converted their ships to carry Rohingya migrants instead of fish, increasing profits in some cases by 230%.

According to The Guardian, testimony from survivors, brokers and human rights groups have indicated that hundreds of Rohingya men were sold from a network of jungle slavery camps in southern Thailand. Rohingya migrants actually sold from these camps said operations were conducted in full awareness of government officials, and, in many cases, they were directly involved.

The Guardian reported that the jungle camps were often open air prisons in which Rohingya captives were held for ransom, their captors demanding money far out of reach of their families. Survivors described being raped and tortured as well as witnessing others beaten to death.

In May 2015, Thai and Malaysian investigators discovered several jungle prisons and mass graves used as holding pens for trafficking operations.

Thailand is facing unprecedented pressure from the global community. The European Union gave Thailand six months to crack down on illegal fishing and labor abuses or face a trade ban, which could result in Thailand losing up to €1 billion ($1.1 billion) a year in seafood exports.

In the wake of Thailand’s drop on the human trafficking watch list, Thailand seems to be attempting to fight the human atrocities poisoning the country and has announced tougher legislation to address trafficking. However, according to Melysa Sperber, director of the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking, little has been seen, and no evidence of real improvement has been realized.

– Jason Zimmerman

Sources: MSN, The Guardian 1, The Guardian 2
Photo: CNN

Human Trafficking in the Thai Fishing Industry

Human trafficking is a horrific trade, often described as a form of modern day slavery. It is defined as any illegal movement of people for the purposes of forced labor or sexual exploitation. Many governments are in denial of how widespread the issue is and neglect reporting or prosecuting those involved.

It is estimated that 20.9 million people are trafficked today. Twenty percent of those trafficked are under the age of 18. Sexual exploitation accounts for 79 percent of trafficking and the victims are usually women and girls. Eighteen percent of victims end up doing forced labor; many believe that the problem is growing worse worldwide.

Currently, the Rohingya people are some of the most vulnerable victims of human trafficking. The Rohingya are one of the world’s most persecuted minorities. A Muslim ethnic group that is one point three million strong, they are a stateless people, living in segregated areas of Myanmar. Although they have lived there for centuries, they are denied citizenship.

Read about the causes of human tracking

Since June 2012, 230 Rohingya have been killed because of religious violence and 140,000 have been displaced. They are facing abuses so severe that their plight fits the criteria for ethnic cleansing, and some fear an impending genocide. Because of this, 25,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar since the beginning of 2015. Many have had no other option but to take their chances on overcrowded boats to escape to other nearby countries.

Sadly, escaping persecution in Myanmar does not guarantee safety. Vessels have been stranded at sea after being turned away from Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Some migrants have found themselves trapped in jungle prisons in Thailand, where they have been held for ransom. From there, many are sold into the Thai fishing industry.

Survivor testimonies, and investigations by human rights groups, have revealed a strong connection between trafficking the Rohingya and the Thai fishing industry. If captured Rohingya men cannot pay their ransom, they are sold onto fishing boats where they are forced to work with no escape. Thai seafood exports produced by slave labor have ended up in supermarket chains around the world, including the U.S. and the UK. The Rohingya are not alone in their struggles with human trafficking: Laotion and Cambodian migrants are also forced into the fishing industry.

There is no easy solution to this long-standing problem. In April, the European Union gave Thailand six months to combat labor abuses in the fishing industry or face a trade ban. But it will take more than just announcing legislative reforms to eliminate such abuses: actually enforcing any new laws designed to eliminate trafficking has proven difficult.

Some organizations are working on the ground to help the Rohingya. Partners Relief and Development has been working to locate stranded boats and provide food, water, and emergency medical care. Helping these persecuted people and protecting them from both human trafficking and ethnic cleansing will take serious efforts from many nations across Southeast Asia and the rest of the world.

– Jane Harkness

Sources: The Guardian, International Business Times, Partners Relief and Development, Polaris Project, UN Office on Drugs and Crime

Photo: CNN

West Africa Restoring Healthy Ocean Habitats

As the world celebrated World Environment Day on June 5^th, countries in West Africa looked to continue their work to preserve fish ecosystems and ocean habitats that are currently under threat.

Oceans provide food for over 1 billion people globally, and provide income for 200 million people in developing countries. Along the coastal regions of West Africa, fishing practices provide half of the fish catch for the entire continent; fish are a source of income and nutrition in West Africa, especially for the poor. The World Bank says that fishing earns these West African countries approximately $4.9 billion per year. As a result, GDP has increased at the national level and provides local communities with an income and greater food security.

However, the marine sources and habitats that support them are being threatened by weak management, declining fish stocks, local exploitation and harmful fishing practices. In addition, foreign industrial ships stalk African coasts and steal fish stocks. To combat this, in 2009 the World Bank launched the West African Regional Fisheries Program (WARFP), which helps governments strengthen ocean management. WARFP has four main areas of focus: good governance and sustainable fisheries management, reducing illegal fishing, increasing the contribution of marine resources to the local economy, and coordination, monitoring and evaluation, and program management. The program helps communities in Ghana, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Senegal.

The program has helped people in these countries to successfully achieve national, regional and local reforms that educate and empower fishing communities to work together and share their resources. By stamping out illegal fishing in Sierra Leone, creating community based monitoring in Liberia and encouraging locals to engage in fishing in Senegal, World Bank programs have aided in the fight to preserve and maintain the environment and ocean resources that are so vital to fishing.

“Developing partnerships between countries along the coast of Africa is key to promoting the recovery of Africa’s fish resources and preserving the ocean environment,” said Colin Bruce, World Bank Director for Regional Integration. In order to continue protecting West Africa’s marine environment, research and management programs need to continue, which in turn will secure a better future for the fishing communities of the region.

– Chloe Isacke

Sources: World Bank, WARFP
Photo: Knowing South Africa