BANGKOK, August 27 (TNA) – Thailand has stepped up its efforts to combat human trafficking with an aim to be upgraded to Tier 1 in the US Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP).
A national committee on suppression and prevention of human trafficking held a meeting headed by Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan on Thursday.
The meeting acknowledged that in the past seven years 74 state officials involved in human-trafficking had been prosecuted and their assets worth over 41 million baht have been confiscated.
Prawit instructed agencies to improve their works in order to eradicate human-trafficking that would help promote trade and investment as well as boost international confidence in Thailand.
The improvements would then warrant an upgrade to Tier 1 in the US TIP report, Prawit told the meeting.
The annual TIP report places each country onto one of three tiers based on its efforts to comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.
Thailand was downgraded to Tier 3 in 2014-2015 before being upgraded to Tier 2 Watch List in 2016-2017. Since then, the country has remained in Tier 2 for three consecutive years.
It was one of the country’s goals to be upgraded from Tier 2, Prawit told the concerned agencies, urging them to strictly enforce the laws to prevent exploitation of migrant workers. (TNA)
