Human Trafficking from Thailand to the United States of America

Modern Day Slavery

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Maria Maldonado

Geography

4/23/2017

Modern Day Slavery

Human Trafficking from Thailand to the United States of America.

The United Nations, office of drug and crimes defines human trafficking as "the acquisition of people by improper means such as force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them." There are many cases of people, usually from regions of low economic resources in Thailand where they accept to work in the fishing industry because they promise them a better life: A good salary, opportunities of loans, construction of houses, properties and goods in favor of the worker.

The economic crisis of 2008 was a very important factor that gave way to contemporary slavery. Many people lost their jobs and were forced to accept any other job offer that would maintain them. "Brokers" are the agents that sell people to human trafficking networks in the country, promising decent jobs based on lies.

For years, Thailand has been singled out as one of the main centers of human trafficking in Asia.

Slaves at the fishing industry are paid approximately 3,000 baths a month ($ 85 dollars), one-third of the legal minimum wage in Thailand. The money is also retained by the company until the end of a contract that is extended indefinitely. They are deceived. Nothing is ever told about the conditions of work, they embark them by promising a lot of money. Aside from that, with the low salary that they obtain, they must discount a rate that goes to the agents that contracted them, or rather, that sold them to these fishing vessels. With a salary that does not cover half of the basic necessities in a month, the suffering of the slaves they must endure, the mistreatment of the captains in the boats, the few hours of sleep, the lack of food and the confiscation of their documents, passports and identifications, which ensures to the owners of these networks and of the boats that their workers will not drop off their "jobs".

There are no precise figures, but the US State Department, which produces a detailed annual report on trafficking globally, estimates that at least tens of thousands of people are victims of the nation's people's sales networks every year. In fact, the country received in the last report of the US Government the worst possible qualification for being "source, destination and country of transit for men, women and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking."

The European Union has also denounced practices in the Asian country and imposed a 'yellow card' on Thailand for violation of human rights and international fisheries legislation, one of the main customers of these networks, along with prostitution, construction and domestic service. This card is a warning before imposing sanctions on the importation of Thai-origin fishery products into Europe, which could seriously damage the world's third largest seafood exporter.

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