'We must seize the assets of human traffickers'.

(From Thai Press Reports)

As more details began to emerge of the human smuggling ring which has left hundreds of Thais working illegally in France, senior politicians and government officials urged the government to seize the assets of the middlemen involved in human trafficking operations, while suggesting that Thailand follow the Philippines in making the Ministry of Labour directly responsible for sending workers abroad.

A day after the repatriation by France of 32 Thais working illegally on French farms, Mr Charal Disata-aphichai, a member of the National Human Rights Commission, revealed that Europe had long been home to a huge number of Thai labourers, many of whom worked in clothing factories owned by Chinese, Cambodians or Vietnamese.

While praising French employers for their employment practices, Mr Charal warned that employers from other countries who were resident in France, including the Laotian employer of the 32 repatriated …