Migrant Fishermen’s Risky Behaviour Spreads HIV

Bangkok – Motivated by a sense of adventure that allows them to explore a world beyond their villages, many young men in the Mekong countries take to the high seas – lured by the promise of high earnings as fishermen on Thai-owned vessels. But a recent report warns that the high-risk behaviour of these migrant fishermen plays a big role in the spread of HIV through the region.

“Fishermen are highly mobile, moving from source communities to transit sites, between ports, and back again. This contributes to their vulnerability of HIV/AIDS and plays a role in the spread of HIV through parts of the Greater Mekong sub-region,” says the report entitled Untangling Vulnerability: A Study on HIV/AIDS Prevention Programming for Migrant Fishermen and Related Populations in Thailand.

The countries in the Greater Mekong sub-region are Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and China.

The report, authored by the Bangkok-based Raks Thai Foundation with support from the Rockefeller Foundation, in the United States, was launched at the 15th International AIDS Conference, in the Thai capital, on Wednesday.

“The motivation of the men to take up fishing is not influenced by coming from a fishing background but rather the potential of high earnings and the sense of adventure,” the report indicates, explaining why migrant fishermen are lured to Thailand from neighbouring countries.

The increasing mobility of migrant fishermen, the report also points out, narrows the link between people in areas of high HIV/AIDS prevalence and those in low prevalence areas.

Particularly vulnerable are women with few options for decent livelihoods who resort to exchanging sex for money with the migrant fishermen.

“HIV rates among sex workers at port provinces (in Thailand) are much higher than rates for sex workers in other parts of the country,” reveals the report.

The Raks Thai Foundation report points out that in 2003, the national prevalence rates for female direct sex workers in Thailand was 10.87 percent and 3.67 percent for female indirect sex workers.

“Although not all (migrant) fishermen seek out commercial sex, the majority of those who do engage in these behaviours are likely to be placing themselves and their partners in highly risky situations by being inebriated, having multiple sex partners, and using condoms inconsistently,” the report says.

What’s alarming is that sex workers, servicing fishermen at the ports, are also highly mobile thus enabling the virus causing AIDS to spread widely.

“These women and girls will often find themselves in a circuit where they may stay for only six months before moving on. They are also most likely to follow a route where there is a concentration of sex work venues, such as other ports,” stresses the report.

Raks Thai Foundation Chairman Promboon Panitchkpakdi says focus was put on Thailand because the country is the recipient of migrant labour from the neighbouring Mekong countries.

“Migrant workers have filled the labour void in Thailand, especially in the fishing industry.  The largest number of migrant fishermen are from Burma, followed by Cambodia and then Laos,” Promboon tells reporters during the report launch.

“People become more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS when their work takes them away regularly from home and family.

With fewer social ties they are more likely to have new sexual contacts,” he adds. “For fishermen, it’s the nature of the occupation after long months out at sea.”

It is generally known that labour policies in Thailand are unfavourable to migrant workers and less than one-third of them are registered, with the remaining one million unregistered being considered as “illegal”.

The “illegal” workers are denied health services and if they fall ill in Thailand, they often find themselves without community, family or the ability to access care and support.

The Raks Thai Foundation chairman hit out at the Thai government for ignoring migrant workers.

“Little is done to look into their health needs and the problem is made worse by their Thai employers who don’t care for them,” says Promboon.

Because of this, he says, non-governmental organizations have to fill in the gap left empty by government agencies.

But Lee-Nah Hsu, the convenor of the UN Regional Task Force on Mobility and HIV Vulnerability Reduction points out that there is no longer a divide between sending and receiving countries for labour.

“This message needs to be loud and clear to all governments.  What they do to foreign workers is what other governments would do their own citizens,” she points out.

“There are Thai workers all over Asia, so we’re all in the same boat,” stresses Lee.

One area of awareness that the Raks Thai Foundation is trying to create among migrant fishermen is on the use of condoms.

“Many are ill-informed about condom use and HIV/AIDS generally, which leads to misconceptions that result in decreased condom use,” says Promboon.

Dangerous myths were also revealed in the report.

“Many also believe that a person’s HIV status can be discerned from appearances.

  For example, a fair-skinned woman, or those whose skin is cool to the touch are thought not to have HIV/AIDS, and thus fishermen may not perceive the need to use a condom.

”One distribution strategy that Raks Thai Foundation plans to use is to place free condoms at locations where fishermen may go prior to seeking commercial sex, such as barber shops, food stalls, bars and snooker halls. – IPS/VNS

Sonny Inbaraj

Vietnam News

July 17, 2004