Trafficking victims need better protection, US says

Pol Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn, the deputy national police chief, speaks with Thai victims rescued from scam call centres in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in April last year. The US government says cyber scam gangs that rely on forced labour are becoming a major challenge for governments in Southeast Asia. (Photo: Royal Thai Police via Reuters)

The United States has urged Thailand to improve its systems for protecting victims of human trafficking, especially those pressed into forced labour by growing numbers of cyber-scam gangs.

The message was delivered during a virtual media briefing on Wednesday by Cindy Dyer, the US ambassador-at-large to the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons at the US Department of States. She discussed the department’s 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report and the work the US government is doing to combat human trafficking globally and in the Asia-Pacific region.