Thai authorities are pledging to boost protection for human trafficking victims after a report released this month from NGOs cited widespread exploitation and trauma, mainly of children, in Southeast Asia.
The study — conducted by the International Organisation for Migration, the London School for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Anesvad — quantified widespread labour violations amounting to slavery, sexual violence and high levels of post-traumatic stress disorder as a result.
Suwaree Jaiharn, of the Bureau of Anti-Trafficking in Women and Children, said Thailand provides shelter to victims before sending them back home. She said authorities care for their mental and physical condition.
"We will care more and accommodate directly trafficking victims, especially the children. Screening and separation of victims of trafficking is of the utmost importance," she said.
The report, which looked at Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, showed the majority of victims in Thailand are children, at 67.3%, and most of the young women had been victims of sex work. Most of the boys were forced to work in the fishing industry.
The NGOs called for active participation of governments and civil society organisations to ensure health protection and care for trafficking victims.
"We realise that close and intimate counselling, especially during the first month of entering the shelters and emergency houses, is significant, and staff must be retrained and increased," Ms Suwaree said.
In March, there would also be retraining for interpreters to be more sensitive and understanding. They would also recruit more interpreters who speak the languages of Myanmar, as well as Bengali and Arabic, Ms Suwaree said.
San Arun, chair of the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking, said a counter-trafficking agreement had been signed by Thai and Cambodian officials, and that it was the first such agreement in the Mekong sub-region. But it has yet to become a legally binding document.
The agreement expands protections for male victims and adds "additional mechanisms for transferring and supporting victims back home", Ms Arun said.