Victims or suspects? Identifying and assisting potentially trafficked fishermen: A qualitative study with stakeholders and first responders in Thailand

Prompted by reports of ‘sea slavery’ in the fishing industry and threats of sanctions, Thailand has faced pressure to eradicate human trafficking the fishing sector. Although the Thai government has responded with anti-trafficking policies, there remains little understanding about their implementati...

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Autores principales:	Nicola S Pocock, Heidi Stöckl, Reena Tadee, Wansiri Rongrongmuang, Kanokwan Tharawan, Fiona B Adamson, Cathy Zimmerman
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Elsevier 2021
Materias:	Human trafficking Fishing Labour exploitation Thailand Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration JV1-9480
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/2c1e7114e7a248d09e6edebc362fe3d9
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:2c1e7114e7a248d09e6edebc362fe3d92021-11-28T04:38:53ZVictims or suspects? Identifying and assisting potentially trafficked fishermen: A qualitative study with stakeholders and first responders in Thailand2666-623510.1016/j.jmh.2021.100074https://doaj.org/article/2c1e7114e7a248d09e6edebc362fe3d92021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666623521000416https://doaj.org/toc/2666-6235Prompted by reports of ‘sea slavery’ in the fishing industry and threats of sanctions, Thailand has faced pressure to eradicate human trafficking the fishing sector. Although the Thai government has responded with anti-trafficking policies, there remains little understanding about their implementation. Specifically, little is known about how government agencies, NGOs or industry perceive “trafficking”, and no research examines how trafficked fishermen are identified and assisted. This study aimed to: 1) explore how stakeholders described trafficking in the fishing sector and their perceptions of trafficking indicators; and 2) identify challenges encountered by frontline responders to identify and assist trafficked fishermen. We conducted interviews with 33 key informants, which were analysed thematically. Findings indicate that authorities and industry representatives believed migrant brokers caused employers to “inadvertently” traffic men. Trafficking was perceived to take place primarily outside of Thai waters, beyond the government's jurisdiction. Most stakeholders considered violence and being confined as key indicators of trafficking. Officials expressed confusion about whether debt bondage and document confiscation “counted” as indicators. Ambiguity and confusion about trafficking indicators in screening forms, combined with perceived “deservingness” of official victim status, underpinned frontline responders’ decisions about who was a victim of trafficking (VoT). Practical and structural constraints included interpreter shortages, and expanded civil servant remits without commensurate staff increases, which hindered officials’ responses to trafficking. This study addresses a critical knowledge gap on the implementation of anti-trafficking policies and offers findings to assist policymakers to address the challenges faced by frontline responders to improve victim identification and assistance.Nicola S PocockHeidi StöcklReena TadeeWansiri RongrongmuangKanokwan TharawanFiona B AdamsonCathy ZimmermanElsevierarticleHuman traffickingFishingLabour exploitationThailandPublic aspects of medicineRA1-1270Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migrationJV1-9480ENJournal of Migration and Health, Vol 4, Iss , Pp 100074- (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Human trafficking Fishing Labour exploitation Thailand Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration JV1-9480
spellingShingle	Human trafficking Fishing Labour exploitation Thailand Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration JV1-9480 Nicola S Pocock Heidi Stöckl Reena Tadee Wansiri Rongrongmuang Kanokwan Tharawan Fiona B Adamson Cathy Zimmerman Victims or suspects? Identifying and assisting potentially trafficked fishermen: A qualitative study with stakeholders and first responders in Thailand
description	Prompted by reports of ‘sea slavery’ in the fishing industry and threats of sanctions, Thailand has faced pressure to eradicate human trafficking the fishing sector. Although the Thai government has responded with anti-trafficking policies, there remains little understanding about their implementation. Specifically, little is known about how government agencies, NGOs or industry perceive “trafficking”, and no research examines how trafficked fishermen are identified and assisted. This study aimed to: 1) explore how stakeholders described trafficking in the fishing sector and their perceptions of trafficking indicators; and 2) identify challenges encountered by frontline responders to identify and assist trafficked fishermen. We conducted interviews with 33 key informants, which were analysed thematically. Findings indicate that authorities and industry representatives believed migrant brokers caused employers to “inadvertently” traffic men. Trafficking was perceived to take place primarily outside of Thai waters, beyond the government's jurisdiction. Most stakeholders considered violence and being confined as key indicators of trafficking. Officials expressed confusion about whether debt bondage and document confiscation “counted” as indicators. Ambiguity and confusion about trafficking indicators in screening forms, combined with perceived “deservingness” of official victim status, underpinned frontline responders’ decisions about who was a victim of trafficking (VoT). Practical and structural constraints included interpreter shortages, and expanded civil servant remits without commensurate staff increases, which hindered officials’ responses to trafficking. This study addresses a critical knowledge gap on the implementation of anti-trafficking policies and offers findings to assist policymakers to address the challenges faced by frontline responders to improve victim identification and assistance.
format	article
author	Nicola S Pocock Heidi Stöckl Reena Tadee Wansiri Rongrongmuang Kanokwan Tharawan Fiona B Adamson Cathy Zimmerman
author_facet	Nicola S Pocock Heidi Stöckl Reena Tadee Wansiri Rongrongmuang Kanokwan Tharawan Fiona B Adamson Cathy Zimmerman
author_sort	Nicola S Pocock
title	Victims or suspects? Identifying and assisting potentially trafficked fishermen: A qualitative study with stakeholders and first responders in Thailand
title_short	Victims or suspects? Identifying and assisting potentially trafficked fishermen: A qualitative study with stakeholders and first responders in Thailand
title_full	Victims or suspects? Identifying and assisting potentially trafficked fishermen: A qualitative study with stakeholders and first responders in Thailand
title_fullStr	Victims or suspects? Identifying and assisting potentially trafficked fishermen: A qualitative study with stakeholders and first responders in Thailand
title_full_unstemmed	Victims or suspects? Identifying and assisting potentially trafficked fishermen: A qualitative study with stakeholders and first responders in Thailand
title_sort	victims or suspects? identifying and assisting potentially trafficked fishermen: a qualitative study with stakeholders and first responders in thailand
publisher	Elsevier
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/2c1e7114e7a248d09e6edebc362fe3d9
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Victims or suspects? Identifying and assisting potentially trafficked fishermen: A qualitative study with stakeholders and first responders in Thailand

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