Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation [official website] announced [press release, in Thai] Wednesday that they have arrested two men accused of playing a significant role in a human trafficking ring. The two men were allegedly part of a group that kidnapped workers and sold them as slaves to fishing boat operators. They will face human trafficking and arbitrary detention charges under Thailand’s Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act [text, PDF].

Human trafficking remains a significant problem in Thailand and other parts of the world. In May, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] called on the Thai government to authorize a UN-assisted inquiry [JURIST report] into human trafficking in the country. In March UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an end to modern slavery and human trafficking [JURIST report] during remarks at the unveiling of The Ark of Return, Memorial to the Victims of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Earlier that month, UN human rights expert Maria Grazia Giammarinaro urged the Malaysian government to make improvements to its efforts to combat human trafficking [JURIST report]. Approximately 36 million people in the world live in a form of modern slavery [JURIST report], the Global Slavery Index (GSI) [advocacy website] reported [text, PDF] in November.