The Ministry of Labour is going to help a group of Thai citizens -- who allegedly became victims of human trafficking while in Finland -- with their legal concerns, it was announced yesterday.
Seventeen berry pickers who had filed complaints of forced labour and unfair wage allegations with their Thai recruitment agency returned to Thailand on Wednesday with 209 other Thai berry pickers who headed back to the kingdom after this year's harvest season, according to Pairoj Chotikasathien, director-general of the Department of Employment.
A report from Finland on Tuesday said that the trafficked Thai victims were helped by the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Finnish Border Guard, and the Helsinki police. The 17 were sent back to Thailand with the help of the Royal Thai Embassy in Helsinki, while another 46 victims are currently under investigation by the Finnish police. The embassy also appealed to the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security.
This investigation led to the arrest of Jukka Kristo, CEO of a berry-picking agency named Polalica Oy, and Kanlayakorn Phongphit, a Thai worker from a berry-picking agency.
Polalica Oy denied the allegations of human trafficking, stating the company's legitimacy and the long and trustworthy relationship it had with Thai berry pickers. The company assured reporters that the investigation would not have any effect on their regular operations, which recruits nearly 1,100 Thai workers annually.
This group of alleged victims plans to file a complaint to the Committee on Labour Division, the House of Representatives, and the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) after coming back to Thailand, said Mr Pairoj.
The DSI is said to be conducting an investigation into their Thai recruitment agency.
The arrest of berry-picking agents in Finland on charges of trafficking and unfair employment allegations is nothing new. The CEO of an agency named Hankasalmi was sentenced to a year and ten months in January under the same charges.
According to the Department of Employment, nearly 4,000 Thai workers will work in Finland this year. Seventy of the 3,200 workers who worked in Finland in 2021 filed complaints about employment issues. The department has resolved all complaints received.