PRESS RELEASE
Friday 28 September 2018
London. UK. Human Rights at Sea, alongside 41 civil society organisations, have today issued in Bangkok through HRW a joint statement to the Thai Government to pass a stand-alone forced labor law that meets international standards and contains significant penalties for violators.
Statement
“Almost 40 years ago, Thailand ratified the Forced Labour Convention, designed by the International Labour Organization (ILO) to eradicate all forms of slavery and forced labour. And less than four months ago, it ratified its recent update – the Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention (P29) – which requires ratifying states must provide protection and compensation to victims of forced labour, and suitably sanction its perpetrators.
Now, the Royal Thai Government (RTG) is aiming to bring Thai legislation in line with the ILO protocol with its new ‘Act on the Prevention and Elimination of Forced Labour’ – colloquially known as the Forced Labour Act. We, the undersigned organizations, applaud the RTG for this progress but reiterate much more still needs to be done. We urge the RTG to consider two crucial aspects in the next steps.”
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28 Sep 18. Human Rights at Sea, alongside 41 civil society organisations, have today issued in Bangkok through HRW a joint statement to the Thai Government to pass a stand-alone forced labor law that meets international standards and contains significant penalties for violators.