Labour rights advocates are urging the government to step up efforts to help hundreds of Thai fishermen believed to have escaped from exploitative work on trawlers to hide on Indonesian islands.
Ambon Island, where many Thais were earlier found sheltering, is among several places where victims, who could not bear the hardships on fishing vessels, fled, said activist Patima Tangpratyakun, asking Thai authorities to play a larger role in search and rescue missions.
Her non-governmental organisation, the Seafarers Action Centre, along with the Labour Rights Promotion Network (LPN), and state officials have jointly helped bring Thais on Ambon Island back home since October.
However, she said, the government, which has more authority and resources, needs to act faster amid media reports that some victims are at risk of dying because of harsh living conditions on the island.
While Indonesian police and local villagers on Ambon Island have helped locate these workers, “Thai authorities seem to make little progress in helping them,” Ms Patima said.
Rescuers are currently facing difficulties in proving the fishermen are Thais because their identity cards and seaman books, which are carried by workers on fishing boats, were being kept by their boat skippers, she said.
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