Fears of Sanctions Over Thailand’s Dismal Human Trafficking Record

[CrazyExpat]

The latest US State Department report on the issue of global human trafficking, known as Trafficking In Persons Report, has the potential to severely affect Thai-US relations depending on the results revealed next month. Thailand now faces the possibility of ranking lower than ever before on the report, which could ultimately mean facing trade sanctions from the US government – a move which could restrict international trade and weaken the Thai economy.

For the past four years, Thailand has been allowed to remain on the Tier 2 Watch List, which means it is a nation that does not meet the minimum standards set by the US State Department, but is still considered to be making an effort. Now, US and Thai officials are concerned that Thailand may slip to a Tier 3 country, alongside North Korea and the Central African Republic, as little evidence of anti-trafficking progress has been offered to US authorities. However, in practice, the United States is highly unlikely to sanction its old ally Thailand, but the sheer embarrassment of such a massive failure might spur some renewed action against human trafficking in the region.

In March this year, Thailand submitted its 2013 report on its trafficking record to the US State Department, with the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying the country had made “significant progress” in fighting human trafficking in last year. However, the document failed to include Rohingya people despite Reuters investigations in three countries that publicly highlighted the lucrative trafficking and mistreatment of up to 40,000 Rohingya people. The Reuters investigations prompted the US State Department and the United Nations to embark on their own investigations into the findings, with many US lawmakers calling on President Barack Obama to punish countries where little is being done to combat human trafficking, such as Thailand and Myanmar. After the blunder, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, “We have not found that the Rohingya are victims of human trafficking.” The report claims that the Rohingya are not victims of trafficking, but rather of “smuggling”.

 

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