Thai junta leader to fight forced labor in fish industry

In this Thursday, Nov. 27, 2014 image from video, Kyaw Naing, a slave from Myanmar, looks through the bars of a cell at the compound of a fishing company in Benjina, Indonesia. (AP Photo)

Thailand’s Bangkok Post newspaper is reporting that the country’s junta leader vowed to take legal action against companies using forced labor, after an Associated Press investigation revealed that fish caught by enslaved migrant workers was being exported from Thai ports to global markets.

According to the newspaper, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha acknowledged he has seen this week’s AP article and says his government is stepping up efforts to combat the scourge and prosecute those responsible.

The paper on Friday quoted Prayuth as saying that if perpetrators “continue to exploit their fellow human beings … they must receive the punishment they deserve.”

The AP reported that hundreds of men were trapped on the remote Indonesian island village of Benjina, and tracked seafood they caught to Thai exporters who then sell to America.

Source:: Indian Express