The official spin on child labour and other serious human rights abuses is troubling. The tendency to gloss over problems does nothing to help victims. Putting form over content is one the chief offences. Over the holiday weekend, senior officials claimed that “progress has been made” in combating child labour. The so-called proof was that the country has ratified a convention of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). But signing a document alone does not promise real progress.
Maurizio Bussi, the ILO representative for Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, told the media that the government has ratified ILO Convention No.182. It is an agreement to combat “the worst forms of child labour” including sale of children into slavery and procuring children for prostitution. It seems a rather obvious step by any government, and if anything rather routine. A nation that refused to protect children from these extreme abuses is worthy of strong international condemnation.
It seems both premature and overstated to praise the government for agreeing that child slavery is bad. This is not actual progress, as the ILO official and the permanent secretary for labour Jirasak Sukhonthachart tried to sell the ratification. Progress is made only on the ground, where children are abused. When a child is rescued from mistreatment and the adults responsible are placed in the justice system, officials can claim small progress.
The important truth is that there is a long way to go before any official can start accepting praise for a job well done. The ILO’s own reports tell a sorry story of serious abuse of human rights. It may be true that Thai children are mostly free of the worst type of organised exploitation. But authorities worldwide are in strong if sad agreement that children of migrant workers are, if anything, more frequently abused and victimised than their parents.
Start with the ILO, which was too lavish with its praise of progress in fighting such abuse. The most recent ILO “observation” of Thailand published late last year described how children are used and abused. The worst violations take place in fish-packing facilities, where some employers are said to value the small, nimble fingers of very young children in shelling and peeling. With the shrimp export industry currently making a comeback, the factories that exploit child labour will not be cutting back their young staff voluntarily.
An almost offensively deferential report by the ILO found children working in bondage on fishing boats. The ILO claimed it needs more information before it can act. Mr Bussi, in his praise for the government, said there should be a national database to gather statistics on underage workers. While there is merit to the idea, it also is true that the ILO, the government and justice agencies all have confirmed information on both specific cases and the scope of the problem.
The United States, direct as always, put the problem this way in its most recent report: “Children in Thailand are engaged in the worst forms of child labour.” It recognised some steps by the government, but also detailed shocking human rights violations. These occur especially against ethnic minorities, stateless and migrant children.
There is a long way to go before national or international authorities can start to assure one another of progress. Violations of both law and common decency remain rampant. Human trafficking, in and out of Thailand, has reached scandalous levels. At the first level, security forces are not just protecting our borders but exploiting the migrants who cross it. Children, especially, deserve better.