Report highlights modern slave labour in Pacific fishing industry
A new report has found that fishing companies operating in the Pacific are doing little to stop slavery on their boats. The tuna industry in particular is rife with allegations of modern slavery in its supply chains, with few protections for workers against forced labour.
The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre report,
All at sea: An evaluation of company efforts to address modern slavery in Pacific supply chains of canned tuna, surveyed dozens of the world’s largest canned tuna brands. It concluded that while more than four in five have published statements on human rights, this “doesn’t translate” into efforts to end slavery.
Looking Past Gulf of Guinea Piracy: Chinese Twins, "Ghanaian" Fishing, and Domain Awareness | Center for International Maritime Security cimsec.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from cimsec.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
(JANSEN ROMERO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
It also facilitated 64 special commercial repatriation flights to bring home distressed Filipinos, which include 74 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from the island Diego Garcia; 33 OFWs and one minor child from Cambodia; 21 trafficking-in-persons victim from the United Arab Emirates (UAE); nine undocumented OFWs from Iraq; four OFWs and two minors from Guangzhou, China; two medical repatriates from Oman; two undocumented OFWs from Vietnam; one household service worker from Iran; and one stranded seafarer from The Bahamas.
Thirty-two Filipino crew of stranded fishing vessels, Long Xing 905, 906, and 907 also arrived last Saturday, Dec. 19.
The three ships were previously stranded at sea near the Marshall Islands after the ship owner, Dalian Ocean Fishing Company Limited, stopped paying the salaries of the crew and failed to make provisions for refueling the ships.
Additional 13,320 overseas Filipinos repatriated before Christmas inquirer.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from inquirer.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Last week, the department facilitated 64 special commercial flights to bring home 13,320 OFWs.
This puts the total number of repatriated Filipinos to 314,158 since the DFA started its coronavirus-related repatriations in February.
The repatriates include 74 OFWs from the island of Diego Garcia, 33 OFWs and one minor child from Cambodia, 21 trafficking-in-persons victims from the United Arab Emirates, nine undocumented OFWs from Iraq, four OFWs and two minor children from Guangzhou in China, two medical repatriates from Oman, two undocumented OFWs from Vietnam, one household service worker from Iran, and one stranded seafarer from the Bahamas.
The Foreign Affairs department said 32 crew of stranded fishing vessels, Long Xing 905, 906 and 907 also arrived on December 19.