The Ministry of Justice monitors disciplinary actions and prosecution against government officials to avert involvement in human trafficking

The Ministry of Justice monitors disciplinary actions and prosecution against government officials to avert involvement in human trafficking

                On July 19^th, 2023, Mrs. Aranya Thongnamtako (Deputy Permanent Secretary for Justice) chaired the meeting no. 2/2566 of the Subcommittee for Monitoring Disciplinary Actions and Prosecution against Government Officials to Avert Involvement in Human Trafficking. The representatives from various government agencies such as the Office of the Court of Justice, the Office of the Attorney General, the Royal Thai Police, the Anti-Money Laundering Office, the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, and the Office of Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission, attended the meeting at the meeting room 10-08, 10^th floor of the Ministry of Justice building on Changwattana Road, Thung Song Hong Sub-district, Lak Si District, Bangkok and via Video Conference.

                During this meeting, the TIP Report for the year 2023 was presented, focusing on human trafficking and providing updates on the progress of actions taken against government officials involved in human trafficking. The statistics from 2012 until the present revealed that a total of 116 government officials were implicated in human trafficking, divided into 14 civil servants, 8 military officers, 78 police officers, and 16 local politicians. The Human Trafficking Bureau of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), acting as the Secretary, proposed the new 2 additional matters to the Subcommittee to consider for further monitoring. The first case involves government officials supporting forced labor or servitude in sugarcane plantations in Kanchanaburi province. And the second case involves government officials from various agencies assisting foreign individuals in entering the country illegally during the search of rented houses of the Consul General of the Republic of Nauru. Furthermore, the issue of corruption among government officials remains a problem that causes human trafficking in Thailand, which the stakeholders have to work together to urgently solve.