ABC Radio Australia
The Thai government's new migrant labor policy has seen a rise in police raids on factories that employ migrant workers, especially from Burma, Loas and Cambodia. There are reportedly up to a million unregistered migrant workers in Thailand. Human rights advocates say many workers are now taking steps to meet the new legal requirements to avoid deportation or jail. The latest sweep of arrests is creating fear among migrants.
Presenter: Ron Corben
Speakers: Mying Wai, Director Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma; Andy Hall, Spokesman, Human Rights Development Foundation; Panitan Wattayanagorn, Thai government spokesman
CORBEN: At a school in central Bangkok Burmese migrant workers come weekends to study languages and gain vital work skills. It is also a meeting place to exchange news and their current concern is of a government crackdown against migrant workers as part of official policy to register all migrant workers in Thailand.
But the policy is not going well, especially for those migrants from Myanmar. While migrant workers from Laos and Cambodia are able to obtain documents from offices inside Thailand, those from Myanmar have been forced to return home, and often to face added taxation, extortion, beatings and other violence.
The government set a February 28 deadline but required all those who had entered the process to have completed it by 2012.
But tens of thousands who have applied have not completed their paperwork. Thousands of others have failed even to begin the process. This leaves them vulnerable to arrest and deportation.
Mying Wai a director with the Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma and works at the training school says migrant workers fear the raids on workplaces. He says the targets are factories in areas known to employ migrant labour.
MYINT WAI: Yes, mostly in Samut Sakorn province many employer afraid because some are using the illegal workers in some factories. And some others, the workers have the paper, work permit and passport.
CORBEN: Having these raids that are taking place on factors where or workers' shelters - and the police are charging in and checking people's papers are making arrests, is that right?
MYING WAI: That is happening.
CORBEN: There was a lot of uncertainty at the beginning of the year. Is it really now - shall we say - a climate of fear that has descended on many of the Burmese and other workers, illegal workers?
MYINT WAI: Yes sure. Even the legal workers also fear because their paper and work permit.....some are not finished with work permit. But a problem for many Thai employers is they don't give their original paper. This is one problem. Another is the official. Some are threatening to have to pay the money - a bribe.
CORBEN: Thailand depends heavily on migrant workers, largely from Myanmar but also Laos and Cambodia, who account for up to 10 per cent of the work force in factories, agriculture, construction and service industries where many women work as house maids.
Andy Hall is a spokesman for migrant rights group, Human Rights Development Foundation, which says as many as one million migrant workers either have failed to renew work permits or have failed to start the process.
HALL: What we're seeing is labour shortages and we have employers saying they need more migrant workers. At the same time the government says it needs to be deport these workers because they're not abiding by the rules. The government is turning the focus on now on to the mass arrest or mass deportation policy is not addressing the main issues about why the migrant workers are not registering in the first place.
Presenter: Ron Corben
Speakers: Mying Wai, Director Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma; Andy Hall, Spokesman, Human Rights Development Foundation; Panitan Wattayanagorn, Thai government spokesman
CORBEN: At a school in central Bangkok Burmese migrant workers come weekends to study languages and gain vital work skills. It is also a meeting place to exchange news and their current concern is of a government crackdown against migrant workers as part of official policy to register all migrant workers in Thailand.
But the policy is not going well, especially for those migrants from Myanmar. While migrant workers from Laos and Cambodia are able to obtain documents from offices inside Thailand, those from Myanmar have been forced to return home, and often to face added taxation, extortion, beatings and other violence.
The government set a February 28 deadline but required all those who had entered the process to have completed it by 2012.
But tens of thousands who have applied have not completed their paperwork. Thousands of others have failed even to begin the process. This leaves them vulnerable to arrest and deportation.
Mying Wai a director with the Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma and works at the training school says migrant workers fear the raids on workplaces. He says the targets are factories in areas known to employ migrant labour.
MYINT WAI: Yes, mostly in Samut Sakorn province many employer afraid because some are using the illegal workers in some factories. And some others, the workers have the paper, work permit and passport.
CORBEN: Having these raids that are taking place on factors where or workers' shelters - and the police are charging in and checking people's papers are making arrests, is that right?
MYING WAI: That is happening.
CORBEN: There was a lot of uncertainty at the beginning of the year. Is it really now - shall we say - a climate of fear that has descended on many of the Burmese and other workers, illegal workers?
MYINT WAI: Yes sure. Even the legal workers also fear because their paper and work permit.....some are not finished with work permit. But a problem for many Thai employers is they don't give their original paper. This is one problem. Another is the official. Some are threatening to have to pay the money - a bribe.
CORBEN: Thailand depends heavily on migrant workers, largely from Myanmar but also Laos and Cambodia, who account for up to 10 per cent of the work force in factories, agriculture, construction and service industries where many women work as house maids.
Andy Hall is a spokesman for migrant rights group, Human Rights Development Foundation, which says as many as one million migrant workers either have failed to renew work permits or have failed to start the process.
HALL: What we're seeing is labour shortages and we have employers saying they need more migrant workers. At the same time the government says it needs to be deport these workers because they're not abiding by the rules. The government is turning the focus on now on to the mass arrest or mass deportation policy is not addressing the main issues about why the migrant workers are not registering in the first place.
7 comments:
human rights groups should tell siem to respect human rights. siem country is going down the drain soon!
I just google and notice that Khmer loves to suck cock both guys and girls. Khmer male loves to suck White tourists' cock to earn few bucks, bang their ass will pay the extra. Khmer girls love to marry Korean, Chinese men to practice being raped and gang bang. Ask your mother and wives, they sure love to and contact us at:
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I just google and notice that Khmer loves to suck cock both guys and girls. Khmer male loves to suck White tourists' cock to earn few bucks, bang their ass will pay the extra. Khmer girls love to marry Korean, Chinese men to practice being raped and gang bang. Ask your mother and wives, they sure love to and contact us at:
www. Khmerwhoreiseverywhere.com
This is what can happen when Uncle SAM choose Thailand to be the center of everything! Now that Thailand is more prosper and rich and have more jobs than neighboring countries especially Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia and Thailand can afford to pick and choose the so called workers to work in the country without regard for violation of human right!
So much for globalization! Why is it so wrong for the poor to work to feed their stomach? ASEAN is a dying concept!
To 1:18PM and 1:19PM
When you google and did you find your mother and father?
I have just googled a couple of hours ago. I found out that Thai king Bhumvibol was the king who like to masterbate in his palace. He likes pornography. Thailand is a country of prositution for the American soldiers during the Vietnam war. And the Fat Bitch Sirikit are the whore who like to masterbate after her masterbate machine died 30 years ago.
www.fatbitchsirikit.com
www.thaifuckingmachine.com
www.thaikingasshole.com
why uncle sam chose thailand only and not cambodia? is uncle being biased with cambodia? why or why not? cambodia want uncle sam, too, you know! there are more to cambodia than a handful of maverick politicians, you know! god bless cambodia now.
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