BANGKOK, Nov 19 (TNA) — The Ministry of Social Development and Human Security is in the final stages of preparing the 2018 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report so that it can be sent to the Prime Minister before being delivered to the US State Department early next year.
Gen Anantaporn Kanjanarat, Minister for Social Development and Human Security said after attending the meeting of the ad hoc subcommittee overseeing the protection and suppression of human trafficking that today’s agenda concerned the preparation of the 2018 TIP Report for the US State Department at the end of March 2019.
The meeting mainly followed up on 11 items proposed by the US for improvement so that a report in both in English and Thai can be completed by November 24.
Gen Anantaporn said 80 per cent of the report was now completed and includes prosecutions, convictions, protection and prevention efforts. Included are 250 reported arrest cases in total and on average 20 prosecutions are made every month. The majority of these involves prostitution, illegal labor and mendicancy all of which resulted in 444 successful arrests.
With regards to rescue this year’s effort saw an improvement over last year with the successful rescue of 558 victims. Similarly, official sanctions on corrupt state officials are much improved with clearly enforced punitive punishments.
Overall, Gen Anantaporn stated that Thailand’s effort to combat human trafficking was seeing major improvements and has achieved significant successes especially in the fisheries sector where there are reported drop in the use of illegal labor and human trafficking. This will ensure that Thailand will be able to maintain its Tier 2 status and any change will depend entirely on what develops in the future. (TNA)
