On June 16, 2022, Permanent Secretary of Labour, Mr. Boonchob Suttamanaswong, presided over the meeting to clarify Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for preliminary screening to seek indications for persons with reasonable suspicion of being victims of labour exploitation, forced labour, or human trafficking in labour. The meeting took place via electronic media on Zoom at the Saengsingkaew meeting room, 5th floor, Ministry of Labour. Deputy Permanent Secretary of Labour, Mr. Wannarat Srisuksai, representatives of the Department of Employment, the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare, and the Office of the Secretariat of the Labour Trafficking Prevention Command Center also attended the occasion. Today’s meeting was a continuation of the meeting on Friday, March 4, 2022, which issued an order to departments under the Ministry of Labour working on the prevention and resolution of human trafficking in labour, including the Provincial Employment Office, the Provincial Labour Protection and Welfare Office and the Provincial Labour Office. The order was that if there were any clues about worker exploitation in the area, information should be reported to the “Office of the Secretariat of the Labour Trafficking Prevention Command Center” to investigate the facts and determine whether the case would be classed as forced labour or human trafficking in labour. In the past, few reports of forced labour were found from labor inspections of employers in the workplace. Most checks were on legally compliant establishments in the Ministry of Labour’s systems. This has caused a few offense cases to be recorded under the Anti-Human Trafficking Act B.E. 2551 and its amendments in Section 6/1. This has caused the US Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons or J-TIP to observe the issue that Labour Inspectors lack concentration in labour inspections and lack in seeking indications that may be considered forced labour. As a result, the TIP Report in 2021 suggested that the Ministry of Labour prepare guidelines for screening standards for forced labour under Section 6/1 as a tool for officials for initial screening with workers in the area. The Labour Trafficking Prevention Command Center has worked with relevant agencies, including the Ministry of Interior, the Royal Thai Police, the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, the Department of Employment, the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare, and NGOs such as IJM and SR-LAWS. Together, they have jointly developed a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), which are guidelines for preliminary screening practices to seek indications for persons with reasonable suspicion of being potential victims of labour exploitation, forced labour, or labour trafficking. The Secretary explained the guidelines to the affiliated agencies today to put into practice.
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Division of Public Relations
17 June 2022
