Human trafficking affects most parts of the world and impedes human development. According to the 2016 Slavery Index, some 46 million men, women and children are modern day slaves, with about half in Asia.
These victims, who can be found in factories, construction sites, fisheries and in sex venues, are forced to work for little or no pay, deprived of their freedom, human rights and dignity, and often subjected to unimaginable suffering. Given the threats to labour advocates, evidenced by the decision of Andy Hall to leave the country, the reputable segment of the Thai private sector should seize the initiative to counter this immoral threat to their business.
While most think that human trafficking involves women and girls forced into the sex industry, 75% of cases are actually related to forced labour, largely in manufacturing industries. Those working to prevent human trafficking have made little progress in the past decade.
While individual, small-scale success stories exist, the majority of victims are never identified. For example, the 2016 Trafficking in Persons Report found only 78,000 victims receiving assistance globally. During the same time period, there were less than 4,000 convictions. This means less than 0.2% of the victims are being identified and assisted each year. This number has remained unchanged for several years.
Why are these numbers so low? As the 2015 UNDP Human Development Report "Work for Human Development" noted, trafficking occurs on a large scale, and its extent is difficult to assess. It is problematic to judge whether migration is voluntary or forced and difficult to differentiate cases of trafficking from data on other forms of illegal migration and exploitation. Also, because human trafficking is linked with illegal migration, victims rarely report abuse for fear of being deported.
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the profits of human trafficking exceed US$150 billion (4.25 trillion baht) annually. But annual global donor contributions total only around $350 million, or 0.23% of total profits generated by the criminals. It is therefore unsurprising that the number of trafficked persons continues to increase. In fact, UN data suggests there are more slaves globally today than at any other time in history.
To really make a difference in addressing this problem, as required by Target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals, the Thai private sector must understand that it should lead the fight against human trafficking.
To begin, most forced labour cases are linked directly or indirectly to the legitimate private sector. Crucially, the business sector knows how to root out bad businesses and already has the necessary skills and capabilities, for instance legal, communications, and financial expertise, to clean their own house and report illegal practices by competitors.
Moreover, labour trafficking undercuts the prices charged by legitimate businesses, giving them an unfair advantage. Also, when human trafficking occurs in a particular business sector, it can result in an entire industry receiving a bad name.
This is especially true in the fisheries and seafood packing industries. This topic is becoming a growing public concern, with more and more consumers asking questions about whether the products they buy are "slave free".
With new legislation out of North America and Europe, it will be expected that most corporate social responsibility declarations address this. Finally, and most importantly, slave-like working conditions are contrary to morality and good business principles.
In Thailand, retail and manufacturing companies must play a greater role in addressing the problem. They can look at their business to determine if there are any risk factors. Then, they can take specific measures to maintain a slave-free supply chain. This involves a four-step process.
The first step is conducting investigative audits that illuminate real worker conditions throughout the supply chain and describe them honestly to corporate decision-makers. Next, staff in corporations and among their suppliers are re-trained to expand awareness. Decision makers then identify points of maximum leverage for implementing effective human rights protections.
Finally, multi-stakeholder initiatives that join private sector business, workers, labour, civil society and the government must receive support at both strategic and practical levels, such as implementing ILO standards. One example is the Multi-stakeholder Initiative for Accountable Supply Chain of Thai Fisheries.
By working cooperatively, the private sector can change positively, as the National Fisheries Association of Thailand, the Pair Trawlers Association of Thailand, and the Coalition of Peeling Sheds have already begun doing after intense criticism from the United States and the European Union.
One reason the Thai private sector has not been more involved is that businesses fear being potentially "named and shamed" in the press for issues found in their supply chains or business networks.
While naming and shaming is necessary when excessive labour violations are uncovered, or where companies repeatedly fail to address problems, other options exist.
One successful approach is bilateral NGO-private sector engagement. If slavery-like conditions are identified, the first step is for concerned organisations to work privately with the company to help them correct the problem, such as through corporate training packages. In face-conscious Thailand, initiatives should seek to engage, not confront.
Thus, another option is long-term partnerships. This is a positive, supportive, collegial approach, as with Nestle and its global and local NGO partners, Verite and Issara Institute.
As with business people globally, Thai managers and directors care about this matter. They understand that increased attention to the plight of workers in their supply chains means that addressing these problems is both a business and moral imperative.
The corporate community has access to huge, untapped potential for market-led solutions. Genuine representation promoting dialogue, such as unionisation and direct hiring, may cost more, but it improves quality of work and can leverage brand quality with customers.
Thailand's business community has extensive human and financial resources.
Thus, if the private sector were to become more active in the fight, such as by funding enforcement initiatives to put non-compliant traders out of business or funding labour organisations like the Migrant Worker Rights Network, they could play a key role in significantly reducing the number of slavery victims.
In the process, the Thai private sector will greatly improve Thailand's image within the world community.
Matt Friedman is an international human trafficking expert. Peerasit Kamnuansilpa is founder and former dean of the College of Local Administration, Khon Kaen University.