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Thai Government Signs MoUs with NGOs

On March 24, 2003 the Secretary Generals of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Labour and Ministry of Public Health, the Attorney General, Commissioner General of the Royal Thai Police and representatives from 28 Non-Governmental Organizations, including the National Council on Youth and Child Development, representatives of the Thai Coordinating Body on Trafficking of Children, the Thai Network to Assist and Protect the Rights of Trafficked Women and Children, and Child Rights Projection Foundation joined together to sign three National Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) relating to the protection and assistance to women and children victims of trafficking. The three MoUs are as follows:

1. MoU on Common Guidelines and Practices for Government Agencies Concerned with Cases of Trafficking in Women and Children (2nd Issue) B.E. 2546 (2003)
2. MoU on the Procedural Cooperation between Government and Non-Government Agencies working with Cases of Trafficking in Women and Children B.E. 2546 (2003)
3. MoU on the Operational Guidelines of Non-Governmental Agencies Concerned with Cases of Trafficking in Women and Children B.E. 2546 (2003).¹

Wanchai Roujanavong, head of the Juvenile Justice Observation and Protection Department said that "lack of coordination is a major factor impeding efforts to eradicate trafficking, adding that the new agreement will benefit both Thai and foreign women and children."² The signing was witnessed by representatives of the United Nations.

The National Subcommittee on Combating Trafficking in Women and Children issued the first MOU in 1998, which was signed by concerned government agencies in 1999. The MOU was later revised to better reflect national priorities.

The Three MoUs provide for a framework of cooperation in addressing the issue of trafficking in women and children and provide for the following key provisions:

1. To consider and treat the trafficked women and children as victims, not criminals, and to give priority to providing appropriate assistance to those victimized.
2. To set clear guidelines on operational coordination and action among agencies responsible for assisting trafficked women and children, such as the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, Royal Thai Police, Immigration Bureau, Non-Government agencies, etc.
3. To outline and put into place operational guidelines in accordance with The Prostitution Prevention and Suppression Act B.E. 2539 (1996), The Measures in Prostitution Prevention and Suppression Act B.E. 2540 (1997) and other relevant legislation and policies relating to fact finding, rehabilitation and return and reintegration of trafficked women and children.

Categories of trafficked women and children provided for in the MOU include:

1. Thai women and children who are victims of human trafficking.
2. Foreign women and children who are trafficked illegally into Thailand.
3. Foreign women who legally enter Thailand and later become victims of trafficking.
4. Women and children who are not Thai citizens but live in Thailand and are victims of human trafficking.

After signing the MoUs, the Sub-Committee will arrange meetings and training workshops to clarify the contents of the MoUs to all concerned agencies to ensure effective coordination and implementation.³

¹ Press Release: Thailand. The Bureau of Welfare Promotion and Protection of Child, Youth, the Disadvantaged, Persons with Disabilities and Older Persons. March 24, 2003

² UN Wire. "Thailand, NGOs Agree on Closer Cooperation." March 26, 2003

³Press Release: Thailand. The Bureau of Welfare Promotion and Protection of Child, Youth, the Disadvantaged, Persons with Disabilities and Older Persons. March 24, 2003