International experts: Thailand not addressing slavery

International experts: Thailand not addressing slavery

Thailand is equipped with the legal framework and policies to protect the rights of migrants, according to international standards, but their implementation remains a problem, a conference held to mark International Migrants' Day was told Monday.

"If we want to find standards of protection they are already there. We have the declaration of rights, refugee treaties, the 1999 Migrant Convention and so on. Hence, the macro framework is complete, but appropriate implementation on the micro-level, by the government and ordinary citizens, is currently missing," Vitit Muntarbhorn, law professor emeritus at Chulalongkorn University and member of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Committee of Experts on Conventions and Recommendations said.

Understanding the causation, protection, co-operation and resilience of those who are marginalised is central to the goal of fighting discrimination against migrants and internally displaced persons (IDPs), according to Mr Vitit, also former member of UN commissions of inquiry on human rights and former UN independent expert.

At the conference held at Chulalongkorn University, Monti Datta, from Richmond University, who collects information for the Modern Slavery Index, said the problems in the Asia-Pacific region are huge. Based on statistics from the Global Slavery Index, documented cases of slavery recorded in the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Russia combined, amounted to approximately 17 million cases which is slightly over half the number recorded in the Asia Pacific alone.

"As seen from data collected by the Walk Free Foundation, the Global Slavery Index 2016 shows thee Asia Pacific has the highest number of cases of slavery recorded at 30,435,300, and requires tremendous efforts from governments and the people to solve this epidemic," Mr Datta said.

Measuring the level of slavery per country has been very difficult as it is often an invisible crime hiding in plain sight, he said.

Meanwhile, independent legal and human rights consultant Jennie Williams said governments should not discount slavery legislation just because they cannot prove legal ownership of someone.

"Courts must recognise de jure [legally] and de facto [reality] slavery. It is crucial to spread social awareness and education regarding discrimination because it is a norm camouflaged within society itself. It also ignores the realities of socio-economic inequalities and its impact on migrants' lives," Ms Williams said.

According to her research, 333 individuals have been prosecuted in Thailand for human trafficking and 268 were convicted in 2016. The US on the other hand had around 450 prosecutions. Both countries had alarmingly low conviction rates given the number of suspected cases of slavery and human trafficking.

Despite the ongoing problems facing the Rohingya people in Myanmar, Mr Vitit praised Thailand's commitments in supporting migrants within the region. The country currently has nine refugee camps which provide shelter to around 100,000 migrants from Myanmar.

"The Thai government is fulfilling its commitments to an MoU which will grant a total of 1 million workers from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia the right to work in the country," Mr Vitit added.

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