Bangkok Post Calls on Thai Government to Punish Slavery Vessels Now
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Bangkok Post] Editorial - April 17, 2015
Nearly 100 victims of slave and forced labour on commercial trawlers have finally returned home after being stranded on Indonesia's Ambon and Benjina islands for years. Several hundred more, not only Thais but also men from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos - who managed to escape enslavement on fishing boats - are still waiting to be rescued. The world is also waiting to see if the Thai government will punish the fishing vessel operators or let them get away with murder.
So far, the signs don't look good. All victims returned with similarly shocking stories of being cheated, suffering harsh labour, going into debt bondage and enduring severe punishment, sickness and deaths of boat mates. Yet, officials still only confirm two cases of human trafficking.
Authorities' narrow mindset about human trafficking, lack of moral outrage about such cruelty and inhumanity, and inability to confront the powerful fishing industry, are reflected by this statistic....
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