HUMAN TRAFFICKING
CHEEWIN SATTHA
MAE HONG SON : Members of the Padaung tribe who may have been lured into working in what many have dubbed as ''human zoos'' outside of Mae Hong Son will be brought back to the northern province, said a provincial sub-committee. The sub-committee, headed by the deputy Mae Hong Son governor, held its first meeting yesterday. It was set up after 11 Padaung highlanders were abducted from the province on July 3.
Karenni people from the Padaung tribe are refugees who fled heavy fighting in Burma and are required to stay at designated locations.
The panel, led by Thongchai Wongrieanthong, has appointed a task force to take legal action against human traffickers who are luring the tribespeople to work in major tourist provinces like Chiang Rai and Chon Buri. Tribespeople found colluding with the traffickers would also be subject to legal action.
They would be charged with defying authorities' orders and violating the Immigration, Human Trafficking and Employment Acts.
The task force is studying the routes being used to smuggle in the Karenni people.
The fate of the missing 11, four of them children, remained unknown yesterday. They were reported abducted from their villages.
The panel would ask related agencies in Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Chon Buri and other provinces to help fight the exploitation of Karenni women who wear brass rings around their long necks, making them tourist attrractions.
Mr Thongchai said the long-neck people in Mae Hong Son are not confined to refugee camps and live with families in Huay Sua Tao and the Huay Pukaeng conservation villages in Muang district, where they share the revenue earned from tourists with the tour agencies arranging tours to their villages.
Mr Thongchai insisted the Karenni were not being badly treated as claimed.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) recently accused Thailand of being more concerned about tourism than the rights of people.
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