Slavery on Thai Fishing Vessels

Kidnapped, Sold and Enslaved

Recently 550 young men from Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand crawled out of Benjina’s jungle, out of incarceration in tiny iron cages and off the decks of fishing boats. They had been slaves, kidnapped, sold and coerced as boys in their home countries, only to be brutalised for years by Thai fishing masters and their enforcers. They were rescued on 1st April 2015. The men had been forced to work 20 to 22 hours a day and were beaten by the toxic tails of stingrays and shocked by Taser if they fell asleep. So far two Indonesians and five Thais have been charged with human trafficking. The question needs to be asked:  how much slave-caught fish might have ended up on Australian dinner plates?  (Image: The Age, May 23rd 2015)  Read more…