It’s been a few weeks now since the U.S. State Department released its Trafficking in Persons report, an annual report that classifies nations based on whether their governments are doing enough to prevent what can only be described as unspeakable human rights abuses.
Not surprisingly, the report placed Thailand on its Tier 2 watch list for the fourth year in a row. If it persists this way for one more year, it could mean sanctions or other punishment to the industry.
Just before the State Department’s report came out, the nonprofit group Environmental Justice Foundation came out with its own report detailing an investigation into the Thai fishing industry. The EJF investigation clearly indicates many atrocious practices, including human slavery and murder, are still going on.
Some critics seem to think the EJF’s report gives an unnecessary black eye to the Thai seafood industry, and unfairly neglects to acknowledge the strides the Thai government has made to address the problem.
I’m not one of them.
It’s clear that the EJF timed the release of its report impeccably well, mere weeks before the State Department had to decide how it would classify Thailand this year.
Absent proper statistics, I’ll take it on good faith that publicized and documented cases of abuse have pressured the Thai government into taking action. I’ll also acknowledge that some of the largest seafood suppliers in Thailand can probably prove they are not participating in these despicable practices.
But despite all that, the EJF’s report shows that these practices are still going on. We are still seeing workers getting lured onto fishing boats, taken offshore and beaten, sometimes to death, for having the audacity to ask when they will get to go home, or if they will even be paid for their back-breaking labor.
Anyone who doesn’t take the EJF’s word for it needs only to read the State Department’s report, which should clear up any doubts that human rights abuses are still happening.
So I hope the Thai government will forgive me for not patting it on the back just yet, not until we’re reasonably sure that somebody has put a stop to this business once and for all. I don’t want to see sanctions, as I know this will indiscriminately hurt the entire Thai seafood industry, and that isn’t fair to companies that are playing by the rules.
But I’ll take that chance if it means I don’t have to worry that the next shrimp or fish I eat came to me at the hands of criminals, on the backs of the innocent.
