Cross-border trafficking of women and children: current situation and forms of assistance.

Human trafficking is a primary concern of the international community as a grave form of human rights violation that needs to eliminate in due time. Thai government has also paid attention in trying to solve this problem especially in assisting women and children who are victims of cross-border trafficking. Currently there are many agencies in Thailand that provide assistance to women and children from neighbouring countries. Therefore Foundation for Women (FFW) has initiated the survey to mapping services of these governmental and nongovernmental agencies to get an update of the situation of cross-border human trafficking and the available assistance in Thailand.

To compile information and data, FFW visited and interviewed administrators and staff of 14 agencies in Bangkok and border towns (Chiang Rai, Tak, Nong Khai and Ranong). Interviews were conducted with Immigration staffs and organizations that work with migrant women and children as well.

FFW hopes that the survey will contribute to the formulation of more appropriate strategy to tackling the problem and providing care and recovery services for trafficked women and children from neighbouring countries.

I. The current situation of trafficking of women and children into Thailand

Until now there is no standard report on the number of trafficked victims from neighbouring countries. The 2002 report of the protection and vocational centres reveals that the number of migrant women and children victims of trafficking who received assistance according to the MOUs are 407. And according to the 2002 IOM's statistics out of 423 Cambodian women migrants whom they found 376 in the IDC and 47 in the protection centres, 132 of them (about 31 per cent) are trafficked victims. Therefore, if this is compared with the compiled number of migrant women and children who were repatriated in 2002, it adds up to 17,148 cases (13,213 women and 3,935 children) and it can be estimated that 5,315 cases are trafficked victims.

The FFW's survey is able to provide information on the current practices of trafficking of women and children into Thailand:

1). Recruiting network

Thailand is now a transit and destination country for women and children from countries in the Mekong region, including Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and China. In addition to this, there are also women from Uzbekistan being trafficked here. The one-step pattern of trafficking (from village to overseas destination) is widespread in these countries. The women and children are recruited to come to Thailand by agents who go into their villages, or by people known to the community or to their families.

2). Trafficking Process

The trafficking process begins with an agent recruiting women from villages with deception on the work they are going to involve in country of destination. The agent will arrange for their illegal entry into Thailand. From interviewing women and children staying in Baan Song Kwae, traffickers and their network operate in cooperation with the human smuggling ring. Women and children form Burma are often discovered by police while they are smuggled into the country in trucks or other vehicles that used to transport other commodities. They are then prevented from becoming victims of human trafficking. However there are media reports on the tragic event of the smuggled migrants who might have become trafficked victims, that they lost their lives on the way due to suffocation or other inhumane form of transportation.

3). Purposes of trafficking of women and children

The main purpose of cross border trafficking is not any more confined to forced prostitution. Women and children are forced to work in sweatshops and in domestic service. Not only children but also old women are forced to beg on the street. Children as small as 5-6 years old are brought into the country to sell flower and candy. The products from the forced labor of trafficked women and children include garments for export to industrialized country.

4) Exploitation of victims

At any work sites either in sex work or forced labour, women and children victims of cross border trafficking are exploited in various forms:

Forced to sell sex

In the case of 2 Burmese women, the agent deceived them by not telling them they would be working in the sex industry when they arrived in Thailand. The agent promised they would receive the wage of 4, 000-5, 000 Baht (US$ 100-125). When they arrived, the agent took them to a massage parlor and he received 40,000 Baht (US$ 1,000) from the owner. They were forced to pay the debt occurred by this transaction by sleeping with clients. Later on, they were able to escape from the brothel and were arrested and detained at the IDC.

Force to work without payment

Bee, a 10-year old girl from Burma was sent by the local police to the IDC for deportation. From the interview, FFW found out that the local agent promised her parents to have her come and sell candy in Thailand, together with her five-year- old sister and other 5 girls. The agent gave their poverty-stricken parents some advanced money. All the girls were forced to sell candy and flowers at day and night time. If they failed to earn their target income, they would not be fed and were beaten. Information from Bee enabled the rescue of her sister and other children from the candy-selling gang.

Arbitrary exploitation from agents

A 16-yer old girl from Vietnam was recruited by local agent to work in Thailand with the promise of having high wage. Her parents paid the agent 10,000 Baht (US$ 250). After arrival in Thailand, she was taken to work in a restaurant where she would earn 2, 500 Baht/ month (US$ 63) and had to work 21 hours a day, from 6 am. until 3am. After 5 months, she still had not been paid any wage, and was arrested by police and sent to a child detention center.

The survey's findings reveal that the local agents are very active in recruiting women and children with the false promise to their parents. Any one (a child or elderly person) can become potential victim of the one-step cross border trafficking. The purposes of trafficking are wider than that of forced prostitution and yet the current legislation in Thailand does not cover them. The human rights of women and children are violated in various forms and make them fall into the situation akin to slavery. The illegality of their entry into the country has denied them the rights to be treated as trafficked victims. Therefore, one area of pressing needs is to develop national guidelines to identify trafficked victims from illegal migrant workers.

II. Forms of assistance to trafficked women and children

Currently, the Thai authority has recognized that both state agencies and non-governmental organisations have mutual role in providing assistance to women and children who are victims of cross-border trafficking. The four MOUs (Memorandum of Understanding) among the state and private agencies have outlined the procedure and forms of services that should be provided to both Thai and non-Thai trafficked women and children. The current available services to trafficked women and children can be classified into 4 areas: outreach programme, shelter and recovery, legal protection and redress, and repatriation and reintegration 

1. Outreach programme

In spite of having MOUs, most of women and children who are victims of trafficking are not aware of the process and mechanisms to claim the rights as trafficked persons. Usually, they are considered by police as illegal migrants thereby denied the access to remedy and justice. Thereby a small number of NGOs are trying to approach and provide them information on the MOUs as well as the rights of documented and undocumented workers. There are activities to reach the women and children which are:

a) Hotline service

There are a number of women and children organisations that provide telephone service to foreign women and children. The counseling is available in Thai and in other languages such as Burmese, Laotian and Cambodian. The hotline service is in both Bangkok and other regions.

* In Bangkok and the central region, there are the Foundation for Women (FFW), Foundation for the Protection of Child Rights (CPCR), Foundation for Child Development (FDC) and the Paveena Foundation for Children and Women.

* In the North, there are TRAFCORD and the Home for the Protection of the Rights of Indigenous Children in the Mekong Region (MIRCH). In addition, there are organizations that work with migrant workers such as the Migrant Assistance Program (MAP) and EMPOWER.

* In the Northeast, currently there are no NGOs working directly on the problem of human trafficking but there are those providing counseling on AIDS and migrant labour issues.

* In the South, there are organizations that provide health counseling and services to migrant workers and their families.

b) Identifying trafficked victims from illegal migrant workers

From the survey, the identifying of trafficked victims from illegal migrants is only carried out in the Bangkok Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) where all the illegal migrant workers are detained before their deportation. Currently, the IOM and FFW are the only two organizations that pay interest in identify trafficked victims. While IOM puts priority on trafficked children, FFW provides assistance to trafficked women as well as children.

c) Social services in border towns

Studies in the 4 border provinces of Chiang Rai, Tak, Nong Khai and Ranong show that social services available to women and children who cross the border are still limited. Only in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai Province neighbouring to Burma, there are volunteers working with street children from border areas. They are Friends of Street children Project, and Baan Nana (alternative school for child's development and protection). These groups work with difficulties in terms of limited resources and transforming understanding of authority and family of affected children.

2. Shelter and recovery

The MOUs stipulates that state and/or private agencies must send women and children victims of trafficking to welfare institutions of the Department of Social Development and Social Security for safe shelter and recovery care. There are 8 welfare institutions that have mandate to shelter foreign women and children. They are s Ban Kredtrakarn (Centre), Ban Songkaew (North), Ban Nareesawas (North-East), Ban Srisurath (South), Home for Boys (Nonthaburi), Home for Boys (Chang Mai), Home for girls (Udonthani), and Mekong Regional Indigenous Child Rights Home (Ban Pitak). At present, private agencies do not yet have state permission to run shelter for non-Thai victims of human trafficking. They may rescue and/or identify trafficked victims and refer them to the governmental shelters. While staying in the shelter women and children will have physical and psychological care. While awaiting for the process of repatriation they can participate in vocational training programmes.

3. Legal protection and redress

Women and children victims of trafficking have the rights to press charge against people who exploit them. There are limited numbers of NGOs that can provide lawyers and prepare the victims to appear in court. However it is found that the problem in bringing cases against traffickers by enforcing the application of the 1997 Anti-trafficking Act is inadequate to provide legal redress for the case of trafficking for forced labour. Concerned NGOs have tried to verify the facts and statements of the women and children to prove they are forced into the exploitative situation of work and thereby are victims of trafficking. However, the police will focus on whether the victims voluntarily travel/migrate into the country, and whether they are forced into prostitution. Actually the 1997 Act clearly states that consent on the part of the victims is not a valid point that can be used to prevent the traffickers from being charged. Besides the narrow legal interpretation of the Anti-trafficking law, the number of lawyers who have expertise in dealing with people trafficking cases is still limited. Thereby the prosecution of trafficking cases does not curb with the magnitude of the problem.

4. Repatriation and reintegration

The survey reveals that trafficked women and children's stay in the protection centres can stay in the government shelters until the authority can locate and prepare the families for their return in order to ensure they will not be retrafficked. The process can last from a few months to years depending on the condition of their situation. Some adult women at the shelters are concerned about the requisite process of locating of their families, as they fear their families will become very worried and that members of their communities will know they have done or encountered something terrible in Thailand. Especially those who have worked in the sex industry do not want their families and communities to know the nature of their work in Thailand.

III. Conclusions and Recommendations

The FFW's survey, though small in scope, has revealed at least the current situation of cross-border trafficking as well as the need to improve services to trafficked women and children. Despite having national instruments, such as laws on trafficking and prostitution as well as the four MOUs, and national mechanism namely the Anti-trafficking Office in the Department of Social Development and Human Security, the Police Unit for the Protection of Women and Children, and the National Sub-Committee to Prevent Trafficking, the cross border trafficking of women and children is still growing in magnitude and manifested in various forms. The majority of trafficked victims cannot yet access to social services and legal justice. There is a need to improve cooperation between different stakeholders in reaching and assisting the victims.

Based on the survey's findings, recommendations are formulated as follows:

* State responsible agencies should have periodic evaluation on the application of different MOUs as well as impact assessment of the MOUs that enforcing on women and children.

* Separate guidelines of practice for women and children should be formulated in order to respect the rights of adult women and children and not to infringe on their individual rights.

* Government shelters should have adequate material and human resources in dealing with foreign trafficked victims. Cooperation with regional local NGOs other than in the center should be strengthened.

* There should be staff members who are able to communicate adequately with women and children or having interpreters who understand the situation of trafficked women and children, to work for their recovery and prepare them for being court witness.

* Training should be held for staffs of both state and private organizations to update them on related instruments and mechanisms such as national laws and agreements, and regional as well as international laws relating to the human trafficking. The training should promote their understanding on human rights principles and increase their knowledge on recovery activities, and legal redress.

* Enough resources should be allocate to support NGOs working at the border town which play a key role in reaching out children at risk of becoming victim of trafficking especially children who are minorities and stateless.

Note: Save the Children UK has provided generous support to conduct this survey and the full report is available from the Foundation for Women.