Press release by the Global Allience Against Traffice in Women (GAATW) on 23rd February 2010

The Royal Thai government is in danger of increasing the risk of trafficking for over 2 million migrants from Burma, Cambodia and Laos by threatening mass deportation for migrant workers who do not register with the Thai government’s Nationality Verification Process (NVP) by February 28, 2010. 

Restrictive migration policies are one of the main causes of trafficking. If working-class migrants are not able to access legal or safe migration and labour channels, third party agents become one of their only options to access opportunities abroad. 

According to the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Ms Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, undocumented migrants face increased risks of trafficking[1]. Migrants without documentation are regularly refused entry to their country of origin, making their presence ‘illegal’ in both countries of destination and origin, leaving traffickers then as the only option for migration and employment. 

Furthermore, in Malaysia in 2008, RELA (Ikatan Relawan Rakyat Malaysia or Volunteers of Malaysian People, a paramilitary civil volunteer corps formed by the Malaysian government) rounded up large numbers of undocumented workers and transferred them to detention centres. When centres became overcrowded, immigration officials sought to relieve the burden by ‘dumping’ undocumented workers over the borders of neighbouring countries. This resulted in a number of trafficking cases including instances of officials handing detainees directly to traffickers in exchange for money[2] [3] [4] [5].

The Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) is deeply concerned that the Royal Thai governments’ punitive actions towards undocumented workers could leave them dangerously exposed to the risk of human trafficking and consequently threaten Thailand’s anti-trafficking efforts. 

We strongly urge the Royal Thai Government to respect its international human rights obligations to prevent extreme exploitation, immediately stop threats of mass deportation and ensure that NVPs are implemented in a safe, ethical and inclusive manner that acknowledges the risks for undocumented migrants.

For interviews, please contact:

Bandana Pattanaik, International Coordinator bandana@gaatw.org ,

Julie Ham, Programme Coordinator julie@gaatw.org

 Source: http://www.gaatw.org/