September 29, 2016 โ A new Associated Press story explores progress made in the past year in reforming abusive labor practices in the shrimp processing sector in Thailand.
The article, โPromises unmet as Thailand tries to reform shrimp industry,โ published 22 September, investigates the the difficulties faced by the industry in attempting to implement reforms. The article follows up on a March 2015 AP investigation titled โSeafood from Slaves,โ which detailed the use of human trafficking, forced labor and violence against workers in the Thai seafood industry.
โThe Associated Pressโฆfound that while some Thai companies that export shrimp to the U.S. have given formerly entrapped workers better jobs in-house, others still use middlemen who employ laborers in remote, guarded warehouses,โ the AP reported in its new article. โThatโs despite industry vows to end outside shrimp processing by the end of last year after human trafficking was exposed in the sheds.โ
The owners of these sheds still disregard environmental, labor or safety laws, with 75 percent of the 109 sheds inspected so far this year receiving citations for violations and 24 were ordered to close, the AP reported.