A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
(Full Story)
Search This Blog
Back to 500BC.
==========================
Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Tuesday, July 4, 2017
Thailand: Thousands of Burmese migrant workers flee amid new labour rules
Burmese workers work on a fishing boats at a pier in Prachuabkhirikhant province, southern Thailand. Pic: AP.
TENS of thousands of workers have fled Thailand,
most of them for homes in neighbouring Burma (Myanmar), immigration
officials said on Monday, after new labour regulations adopted by the
military government sparked fear and panic among the migrant community.
Millions of workers from poor neighbours, such as Cambodia and Burma, form the backbone of Thailand‘s manual labour force, with industries such as the multi-billion-dollar seafood business heavily reliant on foreign workers.
Since taking power in a 2014 coup, Thailand‘s
ruling junta has attained varying degrees of success in campaigns to
regulate the foreign workforce, spurred partly by media reports that
unregulated workers faced exploitation by employers.
About 60,000 workers left between June 23 and 28, and the number has risen since, an Immigration Bureau official said.
“They were of all nationalities, but the biggest group was from Myanmar (Burma),” Deputy Commissioner Pornchai Kuntee told Reuters. “They are probably very scared.”
Following news of the exodus, Thailand on
Friday promised a 120-day delay in enforcing parts of the decree,
including fines that can range up to 800,000 baht (US$23,557) for
employers who hire unregistered foreign workers without permits.
Geta Devi, 28, a Burma worker based in Bangkok, said some of her friends
panicked over the decree, adding, “They went back to Myanmar (Burma).”
Thai government trucks have been taking workers to the Burma town of
Myawaddy, 246 km (153 miles) east of Yangon, and located opposite the
Thai town of Mae Sot, to be handed to Burma authorities, a Burmese
official said.
It was unclear if they were leaving Thailand voluntarily.
Since June 29, more than 16,000 people have returned home, Aung Htay
Win, a labour ministry official who is coordinating Burma’s response,
told Reuters.
The figure included both legal and undocumented migrants fearing a
crackdown, as well as some ordered home by employers, he said.
“Most of them stay for one night or so, then they continue to their home
towns,” he said, adding the workers were being temporarily housed in
government buildings.
Since last week, up to 500 Cambodian migrant workers have returned home,
said Chin Piseth, deputy chief of the Thai-Cambodia border relations
office of the Cambodian army.
“According to reports I received, between 400 and 500 were deported,” he told Reuters.
Such mass movement leaves undocumented workers vulnerable, said Andy
Hall, a migrant workers’ rights expert who has monitored such migration
in Thailand for over a decade.
“It’s clear to me tens of thousands of migrants only move like this after instigation,” Hall told Reuters.
Despite the threat of punishment, “corrupt officials” would try to seek
bribes, he said, adding, “Mass profit is to be made in a short time from
the panic and commotion.”
Police trying to extort money from employers or migrant workers will be
punished, Thai police chief Chaktip Chaijinda warned on Friday.
Last month, the United States kept Thailand on a trafficking watch list, saying it fell short of the minimum standards to end human trafficking. Thailand defended its anti-trafficking efforts, urging U.S. officials to visit and assess them.
Thailand has
more than 3 million migrant workers, the International Organization for
Migration says, but rights groups put the figure higher. ($1=33.96
baht) – Reuters