Foreign affair: Embassies huddle with RTP over trafficking drama
In a bid to untangle a complex web of human trafficking in Southeast Asia, Bangkok embassies have been summoned to the Royal Thai Police (RTP) headquarters for a crucial meeting.
The agenda: sorting out who among the over 260 foreigners recently rescued from neighbouring countries are genuine victims and who might be wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Under the spotlight are embassies tasked with providing vital information about their nationals, saved from the clutches of human traffickers in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, and now under Thai police protection, said Police General Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, director of the RTP’s Anti-Human Trafficking Center and Police Cyber Taskforce.
“Their input is key.”
This data, combined with insights from the RTP’s criminal database and ongoing probes, will help separate the innocents from the impostors.
The Philippines has already stepped up to the plate, offering valuable intel to the RTP. This large-scale rescue operation underscores the success of crackdowns on transnational scam gangs plaguing the region, according to Pol. Gen. Thatchai.
The general made known he is confident in Thailand’s adeptness at sifting real victims from crafty culprits.
“It’s unfair to let traffickers posing as victims escape accountability.”
As the net tightens on call centre scam gangs in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, more people are expected to wash onto Thailand’s shores but not all will fit the bill as trafficking victims.
Take, for example, a recent bust: four Japanese nationals caught sneaking across the border, later unmasked as members of a human-trafficking gang.
Meanwhile, Thailand announced it is stepping up its fight against human trafficking and scam call centres by establishing an international coordination centre to rescue victims trapped in Myanmar, Police Inspector-General Police General Thatchai Pitaneelaboot announced.
Speaking from Tak province yesterday, February 10, Thatchai confirmed that the centre will work with international law enforcement to track down and free people, regardless of nationality, who have been lured or trafficked into Myanmar to work in fraudulent operations.
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