Measures taken by Thailand to fight human trafficking are a step in the right direction and demonstrate an increased commitment by the government, a program officer for the International Labor Organization (ILO) of the United Nations said last week, as the Thai government has been stepping up and improving upon its on-going efforts to address human trafficking and forced labor issues.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha called a meeting of government agencies last week to review their work in cracking down on trafficking and told them to expedite their efforts. Action has also been taken to improve laws including the passing of an anti-human trafficking law to protect informants and authorities taking action as well as endorsement by the National Legislative Assembly of the fishery act to offer clearer protection to fishery workers.  An extra USD 30 million has also been allocated to the National Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate wrongdoing by corrupt officials aiding or benefitting from smuggling of migrant workers.  Furthermore, 130 cases of human trafficking were handled and 104 people were punished in the past year, while registration of migrant workers had exceeded 1.6 million and would be completed within March this year.

Sources: http://www.thaiembassydc.org/?p=965

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