Slave Labor Still in Practice Today

As the world works hard to ensure that supply chains are free from any type of compromising issue, there are still areas that are difficult to investigate. One such area that has become a hotspot for such controversy, is Thailand.

According to an article published by The Quint, a study from Verite found “...virtually all US and European companies buying seafood from Thailand..” are at risk for having modern day slavery within their supply chains. The article described the process in which people are enslaved as one where workers are promised with a job by a broker who then proceeds to charge them exorbitant fees for finding them the job. The workers are then in a position in which they do not have the means to pay back the broker and are thus enslaved.

Verite was also able to talk with one Burmese labourer who stated that, “Sometimes, the net is too heavy and workers get pulled into the water and just disappear. When someone dies, he gets thrown into the water,” showing just how dire their circumstances are.

The situation is not completely hopeless however. Some companies have taken a proactive approach to handling the crisis by launching their own internal investigations. The amount of data from the investigations that manufacturers and distributors will have to comb through though, is staggering. The process could take them quite a great deal of time to sort through. For more information on human trafficking and slavery and how Source Intelligence can help you combat it, click here.