#Videocrux - Thailand under pressure over human trafficking Thailand under pressure over human trafficking
Unpaid, without legal status and in fear of violent repercussions, many trafficking victims in Thailand find themselves in a more desperate situation than the one they had hoped to escape.
People near Bangkok tricked into modern day slavery
The human trafficking victims at this shelter near Bangkok each have a different story to tell about how they were tricked into modern day slavery. Bopha came to Thailand from Cambodia after a neighbour recommended using a broker to find a job. She went to work in a Thai seafood factory but ended up imprisoned there. Unpaid and forced to work very long hours behind high walls and barbed wire, she was trapped until a police raid freed her.
Authorities helped 530 victims of trafficking last year
Bopha, Cambodian trafficking victim, There was a man who had a hidden phone. He called his family in Cambodia and asked them to contact a human rights group so they could rescue us. Victims at the shelter learn skills like weaving that may help them when they return home. Last year Thai authorities identified and helped 530 foreign victims of trafficking. But the US State Department recently criticised Thailand for not doing enough to deal with the problem. And experts believe the known cases are just the tip of the iceberg.
Migrant workers range from 5 to 10 percent of GDP
Phil Robertson, Migrant workers are a huge part of this economy, ranging from anywhere from 5 to 10 percent of GDP, from some of the estimates I have seen. What is happening of course is that in the worst forms of exploitation that those migrant workers face they are being trafficked into situations where they maybe held for months or years with no pay and physical and sexual abuse.
Thais also fall victim to the trade in people
The problem affects not only those entering Thailand from poverty-stricken neighbouring countries Thais also fall victim to the trade in people. Kaew thought she was being taken to work in a textile factory in the south but she was apparently drugged, waking up in Malaysia to be told by fellow captives that she had been sold into the sex trade. Kaew, They asked if we had been lured to work like them. I had no idea what they were talking about, but then they told me what kind of job they did and what kind of job I had to do. Kaew managed to escape and flee to the Thai embassy before seeing her first client but she can't help thinking of the women she left behind.
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