Over 160 human-trafficking victims rescued in last 3 years

These victims were initially promised factory jobs but lured into staying overnight on a boat. When they fell asleep, the boats headed out to the sea, leaving them with no choice but to work on fishing trawlers instead, he said. 
“Some victims were forced to work more than 20 hours a day,” Wirachai revealed.
He said police had arrested more than 100 suspected wrongdoers in cracking down on illegal fishing and trafficking of humans working on fishing trawlers that violated laws. 
Between May 2015 and last Thursday, more than 40,000 fishing trawlers were found to have violated laws. Of them, about 9,000 trawlers have already been confiscated. 
A total of 4,243 cases of illegal fishing and human trafficking were filed during the period. 
Pol Lt-General Charuwat Waisaya, who heads the team against illegal fishing and human trafficking, said Thailand was firmly committed to fighting illegal fishing and had made the highest number of related arrests in Asia. 
“We will submit a report on our work to the government so that the information can be forwarded to the European Union,” he said. 
The EU is set to consider its illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) rankings in April.