The EU warned Thailand again to promptly address the human rights and slavery issues that have dogged its seafood industry if it wants to stave off an EU seafood import ban. Meanwhile, the Junta government endorsed a new Fisheries Emergency decree and claims the media reports on slavery twisted the facts, which caused much damage to Thailand. Thai fishing operators, on the other hand, believe the new regulation is too strict and claim it only helps the big seafood industry avoid trade sanctions.
A few months ago, the Associated Press (AP) uncovered a slave scandal on the island of Benijna, Indonesia. Hundreds of migrants coming from neighboring Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar were trafficked by fishing factories, obliged to work 20 hours a day without receiving a salary, and sometimes even locked in a cage.
After investigation, it turned out Thailand’s fishing industry is deeply embedded in human trafficking too. According to the AP, abuse is common in port cities such as Samut Sakhon. An International Labor Organization report estimated 10,000 migrant children aged 13 to 15 work in the city. Another U.N. agency study found nearly 60 percent of Burmese laborers toiling in its seafood processing industry were victims of forced labor.
AP journalists also found out Thai shrimp factories practicing human trafficking sold their products to major exporting companies, which supply chains of US and European global supermarkets and restaurants. The shrimps peeled by forced laborers were traced back in chains such as Whole Foods, Carrefour, Aldi and Tesco but also in the Red Lobster and Olive Garden restaurants for example.
New laws and regulations have been put in place to fight the enslavement of shrimp peelers in Thailand but it has been repeatedly reported that police is corrupt. Hence, the changes have been largely cosmetic. The authorities are paid to look the other way or take victims into custody for illegal working before selling them back to the traffickers from the seafood industry.
In lights of these rather superficial advancements, the EU threatened to impose a seafood import ban on Thailand if it doesn’t address human rights and slavery issues. An EU ban would seriously affect the South-East Asian country, which is the third-largest seafood exporter, with yearly revenues of almost 5 billion euros. Exports to Europe are estimated at 730 million euros.
EU commissioner for fisheries Karmenu Vella said:
We are still assessing whether Thailand has made sufficient progress in delivering on the actions to address human rights and slavery issues, as asked last April.
Responding to the slavery allegations, Thailand’s junta government claimed that the AP twisted the facts by making a one-sided report that damages the image of the country. Officials emphasise that they continue to suppress illegal labor and labor lawbreakers, and that the number of offences against Thai and migrant workers is visibly decreasing.
Maj-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd commented:
The detection of wrongdoings doesn’t mean that Thailand supports the use of slave labor. On the contrary, we are proceeding with actions against illegal labor and we will create justice for all migrant laborers coming to work in Thailand.
Finally, the Thai fishing operators accuse the new regulation to be too strict. In the new Fisheries Emergency decree endorsed by the Thai National Legislative Assembly last week, factories are subject to business suspensions of between 10 and 30 days if they are found to employ less than five illegal workers. If the number of illegal workers exceeds five, the factories concerned will be shut down for an extended period and repeated wrongdoing will lead to the nullification of factory licenses.
Fisheries have complained that the new law affects their rights and the punishments are too severe for business operators. Banjong Nasae of the Thai Sea Watch Association said the law was drafted only to help the big seafood industry avoid trade sanctions, with the government imposing very strict measures just to pass the EU standard for solving illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing problems.
2015 NEW EUROPE