Thailand: Court convicts 6 traffickers of Myanmar fishers; CSO vows to appeal acquittal of boat captain
" Acquitall of fishing boat captain angers human rights campaigners", 31 January 2018
The Human Rights and Development Foundation has pledged to appeal against a court decision to acquit fishing trawler captain Prawit Kimsai over the enslavement of 15 migrants from Myanmar.
The Court of Appeals...convicted six defendants, including Somphon “Ko Nang” Jirojmontri, former president of Trang’s Fisheries Association, and Wichai Riabroi, a security guard who supervised the human-trafficking victims. It also upheld the lower court’s order that the defendants pay Bt1.99 million compensation to the migrants.
However, the court upheld Prawit’s appeal...saying there had not been sufficient evidence to back allegations that he had forced the victims to work under harsh conditions.
However, the court upheld Prawit's appeal against conviction, saying there had not been sufficient evidence to back allegations that he had forced the victims to work under harsh conditions.
“This is an interesting case on debt bondage,” Papop Siamhan, coordinator of the Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF) Anti-Human Trafficking in Labour Project, said...
He said the 15 victims were forced to work like slaves because their agents told them that they had to repay the huge debts incurred in trying to find them jobs in Thailand.
The case was highlighted in the media in October 2015, when authorities stepped in to help 15 fishing workers from Myanmar who had reportedly been held |captive, subjected to physical |violence and denied their full wages.