Thailand’s ratification of an international protocol to prevent and eliminate force labor reflects Thailand’s intention to improve labor standards, the country’s government said.
The protocol, which was signed by a representative of the Thai government on June 4 in Geneva, Switzerland, will enter into force on June 4 2019, 12 months after the ratification. Today, forced labour has evolved into complex situations that demand an updated response, the Thai government said. The 2014 protocol, which Thailand just ratified, was drafted to fill-in existing gaps, with special focus on the prevention, protection and remedy for victims of forced labor, it added.
Recently, two suspects of human trafficking on fishing vessels, were arrested in Thailand. The two suspects were accused of luring and forcing the victims to work on board fishing vessels, the Thai ministry of foreign affairs said. Meanwhile, Thailand’s deputy prime minister emphatically stated that Thailand will be relentless in its effort to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) to reach the target of being an IUU-free country as well as to create a sustainable fisheries sector in parallel with its effort to solve the labor issues within the fisheries sector.