In Thailand, 72 people, including a senior army officer, are indicted over a number of charges including human trafficking.
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The suspects face charges including human trafficking, human smuggling and malfeasance.
That clampdown triggered a regional migrant crisis because it prompted criminals to abandon boats at sea with thousands of migrants on board, rather than risk landing on Thai shores.
The sweeping investigation, in which 15 Thai state officials were implicated, came after 33 bodies, believed to be migrants from Burma and Bangladesh, were exhumed from various jungle camps near the Thai-Malaysian border in May.
“The OAG has given priority to the issue, as it is a big group of people involving worldwide systems”.
Sources said the indictments will be processed later in the day at a court in Songkhla.
Among the arrested, senior army official Lt. General Manas Kongpan, was charged with being the people-smuggling kingpin in southern Thailand.
He remains the only military officer charged with complicity in people smuggling, an issue that has raised eyebrows among rights groups who say it is unlikely such an influential officer would have acted alone.
The lieutenant general’s alleged involvement in the grim trade in humans raises awkward questions for Thai prime minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, who oversaw Manas’s promotion.
Thailand and Malaysia are desired destinations for members of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority and economic migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh. There were networks that brought the migrants from overseas into the country systematically, there were a lot of damages.
If a country is placed in the third tier, they may lose bilateral support from the US government including non-humanitarian, non-trade-related assistance, according to the guidelines from the State Department. Being designated to the bottom of the rankings can trigger sanctions, but this measure has not yet been imposed against Thailand.
Rohingya have been fleeing persecution in Buddhist majority Myanmar in the tens of thousands since sectarian violence erupted in 2012, while Bangladeshis – who represent an increasing share of the migrants – are mostly escaping extreme poverty in hopes of employment in Malaysia.
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The efforts undertaken by Thailand in the last three months will, however, not be taken into account by the new report, which covers the period from March 2014 to March 2015.
