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/></td> <td> <p style="font-size:1.4em;">United Nations</p> </td> <td> <p> <span style="font-size:2em;">A</span>/HRC/20/18/Add.2</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td> <p style="font-weight:bold;font-size:2em;">General Assembly</p> </td> <td> <p>Distr.: General</p> <p>2 May 2012</p> <p>Original: English</p> </td> </tr> </table> <div class="content"> <p style="font-weight:bold;font-size:1.2em;">Human Rights Council</p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">Twentieth session</p> <p>Agenda item 3</p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development</p> <h2>Report of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo</h2> <h3>Addendum</h3> <h2 style="font-weight:bold;">Mission to Thailand *</h2> <table> <tr> <td> <p style="font-style:italic;font-size:1.2em;">Summary</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>The Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children visited Thailand from 8 to 19 August 2011, at the invitation of the Government. In the present report, the Special Rapporteur highlights the country s commitment and progress in combating trafficking in persons, as evidenced by its anti-trafficking legislation, which accords with international standards, the effective partnership with civil society organizations in investigating trafficking cases, and the high level of regional and subregional cooperation in combating trafficking in persons. The Special Rapporteur nonetheless expresses concerns with regard to, inter alia, the lack of capacity and willingness of law enforcement authorities to properly identify trafficked persons, the arrest, detention and summary deportation of trafficked persons, the lack of adequate support for the recovery of trafficked persons in shelters, the low rate of prosecution and delays in prosecuting trafficking cases, as well as the insufficient efforts made to tackle the root causes, such as restrictive immigration policies and the abuse of the human rights of migrants. On this basis, the Special Rapporteur makes a number of recommendations to the Government, including increasing capacity-building activities for relevant governmental officials, staffing the shelters with appropriate psychologists, social workers, health professionals and interpreters, strengthening labour protection for all workers, including migrant workers, and creating more opportunities for safe labour migration.</p> </td> </tr> </table> <h2>Annex</h2> <h2>Report of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons on her mission to Thailand</h2> <p style="font-style:italic;font-size:0.9em;">Paragraphs Page</p> <p>I.Introduction and methodology1 23</p> <p>II.Main findings3 703</p> <p>A.Migration trends in the Greater Mekong Subregion3 63</p> <p>B.Forms and manifestations of trafficking in persons7 164</p> <p>C.Legislative, policy and institutional framework17 316</p> <p>D. Identification of trafficked persons32 379</p> <p>E.Protection, recovery and reintegration of trafficked persons38 4910</p> <p>F.Investigation, prosecution and punishment50 5612</p> <p>G.Redress57 6213</p> <p>H.Prevention63 6615</p> <p>I.Cooperation and partnership67 7016</p> <p>III.Conclusions and recommendations71 7717</p> <p>A.Conclusions71 7617</p> <p>B.Recommendations7718</p> <h2>I.Introduction and methodology</h2> <p>1.The Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, conducted an official visit to Thailand from 8 to 19 August 2011, at the invitation of the Government. The objectives of the visit were to examine prevalent forms of trafficking in persons in the country and to assess the effectiveness of measures taken by the Government to combat trafficking in persons and to protect the human rights of trafficked persons. </p> <p>2.During her mission, the Special Rapporteur visited Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Mae Sot, Samut Sakorn and Songkhla. She met high-level officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Justice. She also met with the Deputy Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police, prosecutors of the Office of the Attorney-General and members of the judiciary. She also met with representatives of the National Human Rights Council in Bangkok. At the provincial level, she engaged with the Provincial Operation Centres on Human Trafficking in Chiang Mai, Samut Sakorn, Songkhla and Tak Provinces. The Special Rapporteur also met representatives of civil society organizations working in the field of trafficking in persons. Lastly, she visited immigration detention centres in Bangkok and Mae Sot, as well as shelters for trafficked persons, managed by the Government or civil society organizations. The Special Rapporteur expresses her gratitude to the Government for its invitation and cooperation, and to the civil society organizations for their valuable inputs. </p> <h2>II.Main findings</h2> <h3>A.Migration trends in the Greater Mekong Subregion </h3> <p>3.Thailand has achieved remarkable economic growth over the past 30 years. With rapid industrialization, its labour market faced a serious shortage of low-skilled labour, which was filled by a large influx of migrants from neighbouring countries, most notably Cambodia, the Lao People s Democratic Republic and Myanmar. Many also fled these countries owing to internal conflict, political instability and human rights violations. Today, Thailand is the largest destination country in the Subregion for migrant workers from the above-mentioned countries.</p> <p>4.The majority of migrants in Thailand have irregular migration status, having entered the country through irregular means or subsequently become irregular. The entry, recruitment and employment of low-skilled migrant workers are poorly regulated under Thai law. Migrants are often recruited by unscrupulous brokers, who lure them to Thailand with false promises of lucrative employment opportunities. </p> <p>5.In order to promote legal labour migration, the Government entered into bilateral memorandums of understanding with Cambodia, the Lao People s Democratic Republic and Myanmar, which facilitate recruitment of migrant workers from these countries. To date, 106,733 migrant workers (74,399 Cambodians, 24,464 Laotians and 7,870 Myanmar nationals) have been recruited on the basis of this arrangement. Furthermore, in an attempt to regularize the situation of irregular migrant workers already in the country, the Government launched a nationality verification process for Cambodian and Laotian nationals in 2006 and for Myanmar nationals in 2009, whereby registered migrants from these countries already in Thailand may obtain regular migration status and a work permit for two years upon verification of their nationality by the Government of their country of origin. However, the process has been fraught with difficulties owing to a range of factors, including its complexity, its high cost, the lack of adequate information about the process and tight deadlines. As a result, while 1,310,690 migrants were said to be eligible under the scheme, only 518,831 migrants completed the process as at July 2011. Approximately 300,000 migrants did not even apply for registration by the initial deadline of 31 March 2010. While the Government of Thailand approved in 2011 the opening of a new migrant registration period for all workers from Cambodia, the Lao People s Democratic Republic and Myanmar, it is currently unclear whether, how or when these workers will go through the nationality verification process.</p> <p>6.Irregular migrants are in a vulnerable position owing to their migration status, and are often exposed to abuse and exploitation, including physical or psychological abuse, poor working or living conditions, withholding or non-payment of wages, and excessive working hours, as well as arbitrary arrest and extortion by law enforcement authorities. The lack of opportunities for safe migration for low-skilled labour, inadequate, ineffective regulations in recruitment of migrant workers, deep-rooted discrimination against migrants and the absence of mechanisms to protect migrants human rights are main factors contributing to trafficking in persons in Thailand. </p> <h3>B.Forms and manifestations of trafficking in persons</h3> <p>7.Thailand faces significant challenges as a source, transit and destination country. As a source country, Thai nationals are trafficked to countries in different regions, including Australia, Bahrain, China, Germany, Israel, Japan, South Africa and the United States of America. Conversely, as a destination country, it receives trafficked persons, mainly from Cambodia, the Lao People s Democratic Republic, Myanmar and Viet Nam. Trafficked persons may also transit through Thailand to destination countries, especially Malaysia and Indonesia.</p> <p>8.In the present report, the Special Rapporteur focuses on prevalent forms of trafficking in Thailand as a destination and transit country and assesses the effectiveness of its counter-trafficking responses within the country. On the basis of this framework of analysis, the Special Rapporteur observed that the below forms of trafficking in persons are particularly widespread in Thailand. </p> <h3>1.Trafficking for labour exploitation </h3> <p>9.The trafficking of men, women and children for labour exploitation is growing in scale in various sectors, including agricultural, construction, fishing, seafood processing, manufacturing and textile industries. In particular, the trafficking of migrant men and boys for labour exploitation on fishing boats is notoriously widespread. Migrants from neighbouring countries, most notably Cambodia and Myanmar, are often recruited by brokers and trafficked onto fishing boats, which travel throughout South-east Asia and beyond. Many of them arrive in Thailand through informal and often clandestine channels, such as by crossing rivers by boat or walking through the jungle for days. They often agree to have the broker s fee deducted from their wages, as they are unable to pay the fee upfront. They are commonly unaware of or misinformed about the type of job that they would engage in or their working conditions. Once in Thailand, they are trapped and forced to work on fishing boats to pay off their debts. </p> <p>10.Typical working conditions on fishing boats are inhumane and degrading. The Special Rapporteur spoke to a number of migrants from Myanmar, who reported that they were forced to work on fishing boats for as long as 18 to 20 hours per day for seven days a week, were physically and verbally abused, given very little or inedible food, and were not paid at all or paid a meagre amount of money, contrary to what they had been promised. Many of the trafficked fishermen allegedly witnessed the killing of their fellow fishermen by the boat captains and threatened with death if they did not work hard. Furthermore, they complained of lack of access to medical services on the boats, and those who fell ill were either beaten so that they would continue working or left to die and thrown overboard. As one trafficked fisherman stated, they were treated as  reusable merchandise rather than as human beings . </p> <p>11.The Special Rapporteur also met with migrant women who had been trafficked from Myanmar to work in seafood processing, garment and manufacturing factories. The women came to Thailand with promises of well-paid jobs on the understanding that they would pay back the broker s fee with their wages. They inevitably fell into situations of debt bondage after their arrival in Thailand. This pattern of abuse is exemplified by a well-reported case in which more than 60 migrant workers from Myanmar were trafficked for forced labour in a garment factory in the Din Daeng area of Bangkok. Although the migrant workers were promised a monthly wage ranging from 7,000 to 10,000 baht (($223 to $319), they were paid only 200 baht ($6.40) per month, as they allegedly owed the employer debts of 15,000 baht ($479) each for the costs of recruitment. The workers were locked inside the factory and forced to work from 8 a.m. until midnight. </p> <p>12.The Special Rapporteur noted with great concern that, in many cases, victims of labour trafficking include children from Cambodia, the Lao People s Democratic Republic and Myanmar. The information received suggests that children are trafficked and forced to work in a variety of sectors, including agriculture, manufacturing and domestic work. Even in the fishing sector, where the work is too strenuous for children, reports suggest that migrant children, even those under the age of 15 in some instances, are trafficked to work on fishing boats. The Special Rapporteur met with a 15-year-old boy from Myanmar who was trafficked to work on fishing boats at the age of 12. His job consisted of lifting boxes of fish and pulling the fishing net from dusk until dawn, seven days a week, until he was cast off the boat for being too weak to work. </p> <h3>2.Trafficking for sexual exploitation </h3> <p>13.Thailand reportedly remains a hub in the Greater Mekong Subregion for trafficking in women and children for the purpose of sexual exploitation, although reports suggest that it has been significantly reduced over the past decade. The prevalence of tourism and the continuing demand for sexual services are some of the underlying factors contributing to trafficking in women and children for sexual exploitation. A large number of women and children from neighbouring countries, in particular Cambodia, the Lao People s Democratic Republic and Myanmar, and from hill tribes in North and North-eastern Thailand, are lured to urban areas of Thailand with the promise of a well-paid job and forced into prostitution. The Special Rapporteur learned of a case of nine Shan women from Myanmar who were trafficked to Thailand for prostitution. They were told by the broker in Myanmar that they would be employed in a sewing factory in Bangkok. Upon arrival in Thailand, however, they were detained and told that they would have to provide sexual services.</p> <h3>3.Other forms of trafficking in persons </h3> <p>14.The Special Rapporteur observed that trafficking for forced marriage is also emerging in Thailand. For example, she interviewed a widowed woman from Myanmar who was sold and trafficked to Thailand to work on a construction site. She was subsequently transferred by her brokers to a Myanmar man living in Thailand who locked her up in a room, forced her to marry him and treated her as his sex slave. </p> <p>15.Another form of trafficking brought to the attention of the Special Rapporteur is trafficking for surrogacy. She was informed that 15 Vietnamese women were reportedly brought to Thailand by a Taiwanese company that offered surrogacy services online for childless couples. The women reportedly came to Thailand on the promise of a well-paid job. Upon arrival in Thailand, the women s passports were reportedly withheld and they were confined to the company s premises against their will. When the authorities raided the premises in March 2011, two of the 15 women had already given birth and seven of them were pregnant. </p> <p>16.In addition, children from neighbouring countries, in particular Cambodia, are known to have been trafficked for the purpose of forced begging. In 2010, the authorities identified two cases of trafficking for forced begging; the traffickers were arrested in both cases. In one case, two Cambodian children, both aged 10 years, were promised jobs as apple pickers in Thailand, but were forced to work as beggars. They were physically assaulted and abused if they did not earn enough to satisfy the traffickers.</p> <h3>C.Legislative, policy and institutional framework</h3> <h3>1.Legislative framework</h3> <p>17.Thailand is party to a number of key international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It has also ratified the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) of the International Labour Organization (ILO). Regrettably, Thailand has signed but not yet become party to the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, Furthermore, it is not party to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. </p> <p>18.Despite delaying its accession to the above-mentioned Trafficking Protocol, the Government has made conscientious efforts to establish a domestic legal framework that clearly defines trafficking in persons and seeks to prevent and combat trafficking in persons. Section 6 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act (2008) defines trafficking in persons as the following acts committed for the purpose of exploitation: </p> <p>procuring, buying, selling, vending, bringing from or sending to, detaining or confining, harbouring or receiving any person, by means of the threat or use of force, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or of the giving money or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person in allowing the offender to exploit the person under his control. </p> <p>19.In accordance with the Trafficking Protocol, it is considered a trafficking offence in cases involving children, even when none of the specified means is used. The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act is an important step forward, as it is the first legislation that explicitly recognizes trafficking for the purposes of exploitation other than sexual exploitation. The crime of trafficking is punishable by imprisonment for a period ranging from four to 10 years and a fine from 80,000 to 200,000 baht ($2,557 to $6,393). The Act also provides for important protection and remedial measures, including the rights of trafficked persons to receive assistance, to seek compensation for damages and to temporarily regularize their legal status. </p> <p>20.In addition to the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, other legislation may be invoked to prosecute trafficking or trafficking-related offences. ThePenal Codepunishes offences that may amount to trafficking and other forms of exploitation, such as sexual exploitation and slavery. Most notably, section 283 punishes anyone who  procures, seduces or takes away a person by using deceitful means, threats, violence, unjust influence or coercion in order to  gratify the sexual desire of another person . Furthermore, section 312 prohibits  bringing into or sending out of the Kingdom, removing, buying and selling, disposing, accepting or restraining any person for the purpose of slavery. </p> <p>21.Section 9 of the Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act (1996)prohibits procurin