Not all shrimp processing shops in Thailand are like the ones discribed below...however, this shrmp dude would find it very hard to know when buying a " Processed in Thialand " packed shrimp product on a grocery shelf ..Was it packed by a Good Packer or one using forced labor ?? How do we tell as consumers?
March 9, 2012
Thailand
Thailand
Forced Labor, Human Trafficking and Bondage in Shrimp Processing Plants
Labor exploitation, human trafficking and bondage of migrant workers from Burmacontinues in Samut Sakhon Province’s shrimp-processing plants, according to Sompong Srakaew, founder and director of the Labour Rights Promotion Network Foundation,despite the passing of an anti-human-trafficking law nearly four years ago.
Exactly how many workers are trapped in bondage inside shrimp processing plants is unknown. Sompong estimates about 30 per cent of the 400,000-plus Burmese workers in the province are being exploited. Plant managers confiscate work permits, temporary passports and identity cards so that their Burmese workers can’t seek employment elsewhere. Some are not allowed to leave the plants and are forced to work like slaves. “It’s hard to pin down the figures by making an estimate,” Sompong said. “But they are definitely there and they end up as virtually slave labor.”
Sompong believes the Thai government isn’t doing enough to warn migrant workers of the danger. He said signs warning job seekers about abuses have been removed at busy transport hubs like the Mor Chit Bus Terminal.
Source: Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service). Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone , email jsackton@seafood.com). Thai Government Accused of Failing to Combat Burmese Labor Trafficking in Shrimp Plants. March 7, 2012.
