UNODC, Thailand join forces against human trafficking

BANGKOK, June 10 (TNA) - The Bangkok-based Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have joined forces to enhance Thailand's anti-human trafficking capabilities. Deputy National Police Chief Police General Chatchawal Suksomjit, who is also the DSI Acting Director-General, announced the cooperation in Bangkok on Tuesday morning, when he opened a training course on care for human-trafficking victims, jointly organised by the UNODC and the DSI. Police General Chatchawal said as Thailand has been placed on the United States' Tier 2 human trafficking watch list for four years, the DSI has, therefore, collaborated with the UNODC to enhance the efficiency of relevant Thai authorities and their investigations and to modernize their database. Police General Chatchawal elaborated that the UNODC has received 500,000 US dollars from the United States to fund a project to improve anti-human trafficking operations in Thailand, while the Thai Ministry of Justice granted another 200,000 US dollars to sponsor the two-year project. As Thailand has remained on the US Tier 2 list, in which countries trying to solve human trafficking but having remained under Washington's close watch for the crime, the deputy national police chief acknowledged that without persistent attempts to tackle the problem, the country might be moved to the US Tier 3 of countries failing to solve the problem. According to the deputy national police chief, Thai authorities have tried to solve the problem, but reports of outcomes from their attempts have not yet satisfied Washington. The deputy national police chief explained that illegal immigrants want jobs in Thailand and they have become vulnerable to human trafficking. Tuesday's training course, the fifth of its kind, is part of the 700,000-US dollars-joint UNODC-DSI project. (TNA)