In July 2021, ASEAN-ACT commenced a partnership with Social Responsibility Law Office (SR Law) in Thailand to address the lack of clarity in policies and practices around forced labour and trafficking in persons, and the need for advocacy on trafficked victims’ right to compensation.
Research and analysis of court rulings were conducted in 2021, with consultation workshops held in February 2022 to validate and review two draft policy briefs with government and non-goverment organisations.
SR Law’s policy brief and consultation on compensation policy in Thailand has resulted in a change to allow irregular migrants’ equal access to compensation when they are victims of crimes such as human trafficking – access that had been previously denied.
The Thai government, through the Rights and Liberties Protection Department of the Ministry of Justice, changed its policy that previously discriminated against irregular migrant workers, denying their access to compensation if they were victims of trafficking or related crimes.
Due to this change in policy, the government granted compensation to 13 injured persons, equivalent to A$96,500. The committee on victim compensation also agreed to revise the guidelines, applying the non-discrimination principle when providing compensation to injured persons.
In February 2022, SR Law held a consultation on the policy brief on victim identification in cases of trafficking for forced labour, with counter-trafficking stakeholders from government and non-government agencies.
Government agencies responded positively to the analysis and recommendations, and the Ministry of Labour used the policy brief to inform its standard operating procedures for screening and identifying forced labour and trafficking victims. The ministry also used the policy brief in training labour officials. This is an important outcome given the crucial role that labour inspectors play in screening and identifying victims of trafficking for labour exploitation.