7 #Myanmar workers rescued from sugarcane farm in #Thailand

 

Thai and Myanmar officials have rescued seven Myanmar nationals who were tricked into working for nothing on a sugar-cane farm in a forest in Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand.

 According to the Myanmar Aid Alliance Committee (AAC) and Myanmar embassy officials, the seven were rescued Wednesday by Thai officials, including members of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), immigration and army.

Speaking to The Myanmar Times on Thursday, AAC member Ko Ye Min said “The workers were asked by a Myanmar labour broker to work at a sugar-cane factory in Thailand.

“But the broker had sold them as slaves. They had to work without pay, their cell phones were taken away and kept by the farm owner, and they were under constant guard to prevent them from escaping.”

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 The victims are all from Bago Region, five of them from Sat Su village in Waw township and two from Htan Tapin village in Taungoo township.

The victims managed to escape on foot from the farm and called the AAC for help.

According to the seven, the broker had threatened them by saying the girls would be sent to brothels and the men to work on fishing boats in Thailand.

The AAC reported the matter to the DSI, which, after consultations with Myanmar embassy officials, mounted a rescue operation and saved the seven from the forest, Ko Ye Min said.

“We [the AAC] and the embassy managed to send them home. All the victims are back in Myanmar,” Ko Ye Min confirmed on Friday.

Embassy officials said the broker took the victims to Thailand via an illegal route two months ago.

The officials told The Myanmar Times on Thursday that they had sent back all the workers to Myanmar and Thai officials will investigate and take action against the broker for human trafficking.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Thet Naung of the Myanmar Anti Human-Trafficking Police Squad said they had received news that the DSI had saved the workers. “But, we have not got the official version from the Thai side. We will speak to the workers when they get back home. We will take legal action after we have investigated and have all the information on the matter from the workers,” he said on Friday.

An official of Waw township administrative department said on Friday he had no knowledge of any human trafficking.

Source - mmtimes

#Thailand - More luxury cars seized in import-duty evasion probe.

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has confiscated 38 luxury cars as part of an investigation into allegations of import-duty evasion by car importers and dealers.

DSI officials, armed with search warrants issued by the Criminal Court, on Thursday conducted searches at six locations in Bangkok, including showrooms of Maserati, Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin at the Siam Paragon shopping mall.

Four cars were confiscated at the Maserati showroom, and two each at the Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin showrooms.

Searches were also conducted at the offices of Perma Motor Co Ltd in Lak Si district and Master Group Corporation (Asia) Co Ltd in Wang Thong Lang district. DSI officials found a number of car import papers at the two locations, and the documents were confiscated as part of an ongoing investigation.

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 Another DSI team also searched Millennium Auto building in Bang Kho Laem district and a nearby showroom of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Bangkok, where 30 vehicles were confiscated.

In addition to Maserati, Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin, McLaren and Ferrari cars were also confiscated during the DSI searches on Thursday.

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 The DSI investigators are looking into the seized import documents in an attempt to determine whether importers quoted unusually low vehicle prices in order to avoid the high customs duty of 300 per cent.

The operation on Thursday came after earlier searches at nine locations on May 18 when 122 luxury vehicles were confiscated from Niche Car Group showrooms as part of an investigation into alleged import-tax evasion.

Authorities said the vehicle importers allegedly quoted prices no more than 40 per cent of the actual prices and managed to save between Bt10 million and Bt18 million in import duty for each of the 122 imported vehicles. In total, that cost the government Bt2.4 billion in lost revenue.

Source - TheNation

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