- The Prime Minister of Thailand today stated that Thailand wants to call a special meeting of regional countries to mobilize international cooperation to effectively combat the transnational networks of people smuggling and human trafficking in the Bay of Bengal. He instructed the Foreign Ministry of Thailand to coordinate with countries of origin and destination like Myanmar and Malaysia as well as other regional countries in order to urgently convene this meeting within this month. Security agencies of Thailand have also been in touch with their regional counterparts to strengthen cooperation to crack down on these transnational networks.
- The Prime Minister emphasized with the relevant agencies to speed up the investigations and bring perpetrators to justice without exception. Any state officials who have been found to be involved would be severely punished. So far, many arrests have been issued and more will be sought as the investigations proceed.
- The Prime Minister also instructed relevant agencies to do their best to protect victims and provide them with humanitarian assistance.
- The Thai Government has also been working with many partners to enhance region-wide cooperation and coordination to better manage migration issues and combat people smuggling and human trafficking, for example:
– Thailand and Australia co-hosted in March 2015 the Bali Process Regional Symposium on Trafficking for the Purposes of Labor Exploitation. The symposium brought together participants from across the region and representatives from the international organizations, like the International Labor Organization (ILO), to discuss trends, key issues and international cooperation relating to labor trafficking in the region.
– Thailand and the United Nations Office in Thailand will jointly organize a Development Cooperation Seminar on Migration in May 2015. The main objective is to support enhanced dialogue and effective and coordinated action on migration issues in Thailand, including the system for regularizing and managing the large migrant workforce.
– Thailand and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are planning to jointly organize a Regional Meeting on Migrants’ Health in July 2015, the outcome of which will be reported in the Global Forum on Migration and Development.
