The new report features new interviews with survivors of trafficking and forced labour in Indonesia who faced abuse and food deprivation on Thai-operated fishing vessels. These ships transferred their tuna and other fish to a Thai carrier vessel, Marine One, which is owned by Thailand’s Silver Sea Line Co. Ltd., which is the same company implicated in a recent Associated Press investigation for transporting seafood caught using forced labour to a Thai Union supplier.
“Thousands of trafficked workers that caught fish including tuna destined for Thailand are now either unaccounted for or stranded in Indonesia with an uncertain future,” said Mark Dia, Regional Oceans Campaign Coordinator, Greenpeace Southeast Asia.
Over 96% of Thai Union’s tuna is sourced from areas other than Thailand, yet Greenpeace says the company has only committed to a human rights audit for the 4% of tuna caught in Thai waters, along with its shrimp operations. Thai Union has also ended the transhipment of fish in Thai waters, but has not addressed the same issue for the majority of its tuna which is sourced from other countries. Transhipment at sea exacerbates the risk of human rights abuse by enabling vessels to trap workers and stay at sea indefinitely.
“Thai Union has not taken the necessary steps to ensure its tuna products are supplied by vessels free of forced labour,” said Mr Dia. “The company must clean up more than its shrimp operations and the limited fishing fleets in Thailand to make meaningful changes on the water. Failure to do so will ensure seafood caught by abused workers continues to find its way onto dinner plates all over the world.”
Following an Associated Press exposé earlier this year, Thai Union announced it would drop the supplier connected to labour abuse in the investigation. However, the company did not state that it would stop sourcing fish from Silver Sea Line Co. Ltd reefers, which have been implicated in the transhipment of fish caught by forced labour.
The forced labour and trafficking survivors interviewed by Greenpeace Southeast Asia detailed beatings and food deprivation for anyone who tried to escape. The tuna fishermen on their vessels were forced to work 20-22 hour days for little to no pay, often deprived of basic necessities like showers.
The full report can be found here.
