By Cristina S. Sevilla*

Trafficking in persons (TIP) has predominantly been tackled from a limiting criminal justice perspective. The U.S. State Department’s annual TIP Report highlights trafficking-related convictions in classifying countries under its tier system. The report’s emphasis on rule of law indicators, rather than prevention and victim services, impacts how countries focus their anti-trafficking resources. For example, over time Thailand has increased its efforts targeting the prevention of human trafficking, and therefore reduced its investigation, prosecution and conviction efforts.  However, this shift to prevent exploitation resulted in a drop in the TIP report rankings, down to the lowest ranking of Tier 3.  As another example, in its vigorous zeal to achieve a better ranking, the Philippine government amended its anti-trafficking law in order to increase its number of convictions. The focus on convictions distorts the point. 

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November 27, 2015

By Matthew Richardson

United States FCPA prosecutions for extraterritorial misconduct are most attention grabbing when large corporations engage in corrupt activities. Few would first think of a Thai film festival as the cutting edge of anti-corruption efforts. Nevertheless, Thai tourism boss Juthamas Siriwan may now escape extradition to the United States, despite alleged receipt of bribes from a Hollywood producer. Her recent indictment in Thailand will likely preclude extradition due to existing treaty obligations between the two countries. This is another reminder that the reach of the FCPA in terms of either specific countries or conduct can remain surprising, and inconsistent. One could even imagine well-connected officials seeking domestic indictment to avoid potential extradition. Maybe there’s a Hollywood movie in it somewhere?

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September 10, 2015

By Courtney Cox

The Associated Press conducted an investigation that uncovered modern day slavery in Benjina, an Indonesian island. NPR reports that some of the laborers, many from Myanmar and Thailand, were coaxed into slavery by promises of a job. Others were kidnapped or coerced to work. Many of the enslaved individuals were told that they must pay a broker fee, for food, and shelter as they work twenty to twenty-two hour shifts fishing. This fabricated debt became impossible to repay.  The slaves are fed “a few bites of rice and curry” and are locked in cages to prevent escape. The Associated Press tracked the final destinations of the seafood caught by the forced laborers. Some of the seafood went to ports in Thailand; others sailed much closer to home. In the U.S., much of the seafood is found in common cat food brands and is sold to distributers that sell to Safeway, Wal-Mart, and Kroger.

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April 16, 2015

By Huiyu Yin

“The Hunger Games” movie is apparently more popular in Thailand than most of us thought. Protesters there used the same three-finger salute as a symbol of resistance to express a disagreement with the Thai military government. However, this simple gesture could lead to a possible two-year prison term. On November 19, 2014, in northeastern Khon Kaen province, the government arrested five university students for giving the three-fingered salute during a speech by Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, the coup leader and now the prime minister of Thailand. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

 “Six months after the coup, criticism is systematically prosecuted, political activity is banned, media is censored, and dissidents are tried in military courts,” said by Brad Adams, the Asia director at Human Rights Watch. Prayuth announced on November 17 that criticizing or obstructing him, the government, or the NCPO was unacceptable. He also undermined his claims about a road map to return to civilian democratic rule through free and credible elections, saying on November 21: “Don’t ask me to give you democracy and elections. This is not the right time.” Prayuth then added that the enforcement of martial law would continue “as long as necessary.”

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January 29, 2015

By Phillip Yu

Wikimedia Commons

Half a decade ago, Thai and Spanish authorities arrested Muhammed Ather "Tony" Butt and Ahboor Rambarak Fath and uncovered more than 1,000 stolen passports from North America and Asia. Besides selling falsified passports to international criminal groups involved in arms trafficking and human trafficking, Butt also allegedly supplied passports to the terrorist group accused of plotting the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Organized passport fraud allegedly began in Thailand in the 1980s with stolen passports now selling between $1,500 and $3,000 each depending on country of issuance.

While there is no evidence yet that the recently vanished Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was the victim of a terror attack, the news that two passengers were travelling on passports stolen in Thailand has raised tremendous concern about Thailand’s illegal market for stolen or falsified passports. 

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March 15, 2014

By Elizabeth Gibson*

Deputy High Commissioner T. Alexander Aleinikoff

The United Nations’ refugee agency knows how to set up refugee camps, but finding long-term solutions to get refugees out of those camps is not easy.

The Deputy High Commissioner of UNHCR, T. Alexander Aleinikoff,** presented the 34th Annual Thomas F. Ryan Lecture at the Georgetown University Law Center yesterday, and he emphasized that the international community needs to rethink its response to refugee situations.

“Non-solutions have become the norm and literally hundreds of thousands of refugees have become forgotten people,” he said. “We have to move away from the paradigm of dependence that currently defines the refugee regime.”

Protecting the rights of refugees and providing for their basic needs is the bread and butter of UNHCR’s work—and it’s crucial, lifesaving work. However, no matter how much of a success you might consider Thai camps that provide shelter, food, medical attention, and education for families fleeing persecution in Myanmar, it is worrisome that the camp is 35 years old and still relying on food aid, Prof. Aleinikoff said.

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November 22, 2013