TY Baker
CREDIT RSSJULY 21, 2019 / 11:26 PM / UPDATED 36 MINUTES AGO
Rescued human trafficking victims in Thailand nears record high
Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Thomson Reuters Foundation
4 MIN READ
BANGKOK, July 22 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The number of human trafficking victims rescued in Thailand is set to hit a record high this year, according to government data, with demand for cheap labour in neighbouring Malaysia causing a jump in the illegal trade.
Thai police have rescued 974 trafficking victims - mostly from Myanmar - for the year to date, compared to 622 for the whole of last year and a previous annual high of 982 in 2015, according to data released last week by the Thai government’s anti-trafficking division.
Thailand has come under scrutiny in recent years for slavery and trafficking, especially in its seafood and sex industries.
The U.S. State Department this year in its human trafficking report kept Thailand on a watchlist and criticised the Southeast Asian country for not doing enough to tackle the problem.
“There’s a high possibility that figures this year will reach a record high, with many victims telling us they were planning to work in Malaysia,” said Police Colonel Mana Kleebsattabudh, deputy commander at the anti-trafficking division.
There are about 4.9 million migrants in Thailand, making up more than 10 percent of the country’s workforce, according to the United Nations. Most are from poorer neighbouring countries including Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
Kleebsattabudh said most of the rescued trafficking victims were recruited by middleman and agencies for 20,000-30,000 baht ($650-$975) to work in factories in Malaysia.
Many were rescued while being transported towards the southern Thai border with Malaysia.
“What we find is these people are being kept in bad conditions in forests and shacks far from communities, which shows the bad intentions of those bringing them,” Kleebsattabudh told the Thomson Reuters Foundation on Friday.
“More importantly, the victims don’t see themselves as being deceived and often endure the hardship in order to get to their destination.”
Kleebsattabudh said the spike in arrests could lead to an increase in smugglers and traffickers using alternative sea routes instead, which lowers the risk of being caught by authorities and is cheaper.
The most recent case by sea was on June 11, when a fishing boat carrying at least 70 Rohingya Muslims was found stranded on the southern island of Koh Lipe, said Kleebsattabudh.
The boat had come from Bangladesh and had been at sea for two to three days before running out of oil and being swept away to the island, where two speedboats picked up some of the people, leaving 71 on the beach, he said.
“They slept on plastic sheets next to each other like animals. This is inhumane,” he said of the cramped conditions.
Adisorn Kerdmongkol, a coordinator at the Migrant Working Group, a network of non-governmental organisations working on migrant workers’ rights, questioned whether all those rescued by Thai police were trafficking victims or being smuggled.
Unlike trafficking, which is control over another person for the purpose of exploitation, smuggling is merely illegal entry into another country. ($1 = 30.7600 baht)
https://www.reuters.com/article/thailand-trafficking-malaysia/rescued-human-trafficking-victims-in-thailand-nears-record-high-idUSL8N24J28A
U.S. Africa Command to Conduct Change of Command July 26
https://www.africom.mil/media-room/pressrelease/32026/u-s-africa-command-to-conduct-change-of-command-july-26
U.S. Africa Command to Conduct Change of Command July 26
U.S. Africa Command will conduct a change of command ceremony Friday, July 26 at 10 a.m. at Patch Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany.
By U.S. AFRICA COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS, United States Africa Command Stuttgart, Germany
Jul 19, 2019
STUTTGART, Germany – U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) will conduct a change of command ceremony Friday, July 26 at 10 a.m. at Patch Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany.
U.S. Army Gen. Stephen J. Townsend will assume command from retiring U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser. The acting U.S. Secretary of Defense is scheduled to preside over the ceremony.
Townsend will be the fifth AFRICOM commander since the command was established in 2008.
Waldhauser will relinquish command and subsequently retire after a distinguished 43-year career serving in uniform. A native of South St. Paul, Minn., Waldhauser graduated from Bemidji State University, Minn., and commissioned in 1976. A career infantry officer, he has commanded at multiple levels, to include tours as the Battalion Landing Team Commander, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment; Commander, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Command); Commanding General, Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory; Commanding General, 1st Marine Division; Commanding General, I Marine Expeditionary Force; and Commanding General, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central Command.
Townsend previously served as the commanding general of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command since March 2, 2018. Raised in an Army family, he commissioned as an infantry officer upon graduating from North Georgia College in 1982. Townsend has led and commanded troops at every echelon from platoon to corps and combined joint task force, to include leading all U.S. and multi-national forces fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria as the Commander, Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve.
U.S. Africa Command is one of six U.S. Department of Defense geographic combatant commands. The command is responsible for all U.S. military operations, exercises, security cooperation, and conducts crisis response on the African continent in order to advance U.S. interests and promote regional security, stability, and prosperity.
For more information on AFRICOM, please visit www.africom.mil and its social media platforms.
Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo And Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele At a Press Availability
https://www.state.gov/secretary-of-state-michael-r-pompeo-and-salvadoran-president-nayib-bukele-at-a-press-availability/
REMARKS
MICHAEL R. POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE
CASA PRESEDENCIAL
SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR
JULY 21, 2019
excerpt
PRESIDENT BUKELE: Well, I think – I think it’s very important that when we focus on a cause, we fight for what we can achieve to better that cause. So what we really – what do we really want to do in El Salvador? We want to get more free money? We want to get more blank checks? No. What we really want is to improve the conditions Salvadorans live here and abroad. So when the U.S. top diplomatic official comes, first we have to make our guests feel at home, not tell him, “Why are they not giving us more free money or handouts?”
Second, we have to acknowledge every penny the United States Government has is their money, not ours. We have our own money. We may be a poor country, but we have our own money, and they have their own money. Whatever aid or program the United States Government wants to do in El Salvador will be, of course, welcome, and they are doing many programs with us and collaborating with us in many of the things we wanted to achieve. But we cannot force them to give us free money.
So I don’t think it would be quite – I don’t know, it sounds tacky to have the top U.S. official and ask him for free money. What we said is that we want to work together with them in solving the problems that we both have. For example, they have gangs in the U.S. They have MS-13 over there, and we have MS-13 here, so of course, it’s of common interest to fight MS-13 and the other gangs. And we will have and we already have the United States help in that, but of course, they might be able to increase that help because we’re sharing a common interest and want to work together because we’re partners, we’re friends.
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