A group of international labor, environmental and human rights organizations, including Human Rights at Sea, has sent a letter to Karmenu Vella, the E.U. Commissioner for fisheries, maritime affairs and environment urging the Commission to to maintain pressure on Thailand on human rights abuses in the nation’s fishing industry...
The letter asks the Committee to take human rights into account when assessing Thailand’s seafood sector. It also says that to demonstrate sufficient progress, Thailand should implement a time-bound action plan focused on effective enforcement to ensure substantial, measurable progress toward a legal, sustainable and ethical seafood industry...
“Proper incentives will be critical to addressing decades of inadequate fisheries oversight and exploitation of migrant workers in Thailand,” said Abby McGill, campaigns director at the International Labor Rights Forum. “The E.U. Commission should continue to push for measurable progress on enforcement until the Thai government demonstrates the political will to respect the rights of its migrant worker population and formalizes effective legal mechanisms to protect them.”
