mizzima.com-Feb 17
Aung Aung, a Burmese fisherman who’s labored for 14 years in waters off southern Thailand, faces an uncertain future thanks to a potential legal overhaul of the Thai fishing industry. With new laws on the horizon, the 33-year-old says he’s concerned that they might be used to leave fishermen at sea for months at a time – something he’s experienced. Up until three or four years ago, “when our boats were full of fish, we had to transfer the loads to the transporting boat, and workers had to stay at sea without a need to go ashore,” Aung Aung said. “In those periods, we faced several challenges, such as shortage of food and medicine, lack of medical attention, and stress and depression if we stayed long in the sea,” he said. Thailand, once infamous for the enslavement of migrant workers aboard its fishing vessels, sought to reform its image with the Royal Ordinance on Fisheries in 2015, aimed at clamping down on unregulated fishing and brutal treatment of workers on fishing vessels. Yet, the newly-elected Pheu Thai administration’s initiative to soften these stringent measures has sparked fears of undoing the strides made in protecting workers’ rights. Since last February, the new government has proposed three drafts attempting to amend the country’s fishing labor laws, arguing that vessel owners and businesses find current laws unfairly strict and damaging to their profits. The latest draft, proposed in December, would allow vessels to transfer both crew and catch to other vessels while still at sea “in emergencies,” and with some restrictions – a practice that labor activists still strongly oppose for its role in keeping trafficked fishermen at sea for long periods of time. Read more at: https://eng.mizzima.com/2024/02/17/7239
