Human trafficking is a severe problem in Thailand. Vulnerable persons are often forced to engage in illegal or unethical work under threats of violence, including child labour, sex slaves, and bonded labour. Some of them become modern slaves. Moreover, there are hundreds of thousands of stateless people in Thailand. Most of them are hill tribes living in remote areas near the border and cannot access the civil rights of education, medical care and social security.
In response to the situation of human trafficking and rampant online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC), CEDAR supports its partner to identify at-risk cases online and assist in the investigation of cyber trafficking cases. Besides, we hold Bible studies with the victims at the Boy’s Shelter and provide them with non-formal education. Our partner works with community theatre group to develop experiential learning materials on human trafficking and grooming techniques used by online predators and organises teacher trainings and workshops for teenagers to raise awareness.
To develop the border areas, we built water conservancy facilities for the ethnic tribes in northern Thailand, encouraging residents to use the small open space next to their houses for farming or breeding pigs or fish to achieve self-sufficiency. In addition, the local minority church mobilised the church and community network to advocate for the land rights of the indigenous people and explore the relationship and practice of Christian belief in managing natural resources.
