Slavery, abuse, trafficking: Human Rights Watch says problems still rampant in Thai fishing sector despite reforms
The military has tried to improve practices since the European Union in 2015 threatened to ban imports, but the advocacy group Human Rights Watch says little has changed
Trafficked into work and routinely abused, migrant fishermen in Thailand are still subject to forced labour despite efforts by the government to clean up the industry, advocacy groups said on Tuesday.
Thailand’s multibillion-dollar seafood sector has come under scrutiny in recent years with investigations revealing widespread slavery, trafficking and violence on fishing boats and in onshore processing facilities.
The military, which took power in a 2014 coup, has rolled out reforms since the European Union in 2015 threatened to ban fish imports from Thailand unless it clean up the industry. But the advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) says little has changed.
Brad Adams, the group’s Asia director, said the measures should have given consumers in Europe, the United States and Japan the confidence that Thailand’s seafood does not involve forced labour.
“Yet despite high-profile commitments by the Thai government to clean up the fishing industry, problems are rampant,” he added in a statement.
In a report released on Tuesday, HRW included testimonies from some 248 current and former fishermen who described their horrific working conditions. The workers, almost all from Myanmar and Cambodia, were interviewed between 2015 and 2017.