MYANMAR migrants working in Thailand face the prospect of deportation unless they register with the National Verification (NV) process by the end of the month, Thai officials confirmed at a coordination meeting in Bagan last week.
Under the NV process, Myanmar workers are required to return to Myanmar to gain temporary passports and Thai work permits. The Thai government has set a February 28 deadline for workers to express their intention to register for the program.
Registered workers will then be granted legal status under Thai law and will receive the same rights as Thai workers, according to officials from both governments.
Mr Jirisak Sukhonchaat, director general of Thailand’s Employment Department, said in a statement on February 17 that more than 200,000 migrants from Myanmar had already expressed their intention to register.
“Those who have completed NV total 26,902 persons. These figures are from the total applicable populations of 1,079,000 persons from Myanmar,” Mr Jirisak said.
“Those workers who do not express their intention to enter into NV prior to February 28, 2010 shall be deported from Thailand,” he said.
Workers who register their intention have two years to complete the NV process.
U Maung Myint, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, told The Myanmar Times on February 14 the Myanmar “government had drawn up a plan to finish issuing temporary passports for 1.2 million illegal Myanmar workers in Thailand by February 2012”.
However, he said the government was hoping Thailand would extend the deadline to give workers more time to register. Myanmar expects to process somewhere from 2000 to 3000 temporary passports a day and 600,000 altogether in 2010.
Once issued with a temporary passport, migrants will then be eligible for a Thai visa, work permit and health insurance. Legal workers are entitled to reside and work in Thailand for two years at a time for a period not exceeding four years.
At the 8th Meeting of Myanmar-Thailand on the Employment of Myanmar Workers in Thailand, held at Aureum Palace Hotel in Bagan on February 13-14, delegates from both countries met to discuss the NV process.
Thailand’s Minister of Labour, Mr Paitoon Kaewthong, told The Myanmar Times the meeting had achieved “some success … [and] the Thai government will continue to cooperate with the Myanmar government” on migrant worker registration.
Thailand’s Ministry of Labour said in a statement there were “two main issues” raised at the meeting: The “rumours that [had been] circulating widely that if migrant workers complete NV, they will be forced to pay taxes to the Myanmar authorities” and the “publishing of posters for a public relations campaign” to be launched in border towns with large numbers of illegal Myanmar workers.
The challenge of providing 200,000 registered migrants to replace illegal workers the Thai government expects to deport after the deadline was also raised.
“The [other issue] discussed during these talks in Myanmar was bringing in an additional 200,000 fresh migrant workers to Thailand from Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia,” Mr Paitoon said.
“In relation to [Myanmar], they have assured us that for 10,000 workers it is no problem at all. At this time, Thai employers have already expressed their need, as 63 companies have requested migrants for 7000 vacant positions.
“If employers need more workers, they can come and express their intention at the [Ministry of Labour],” Mr Paitoon said.
But workers rights groups have called for the deadline to be extended to avoid further “exploitation” of Myanmar workers in Thailand. Another issue – also identified by Thai authorities – is that many migrants are still unaware of the NV process, while there are also concerns over the cost, estimated at 3300 baht to 4200 baht (US$100 to $126) in processing and medical fees alone.
Mr Somchai Homlaor, secretary general of the Thailand-based Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF), said mass deportations would hurt the country’s economy and image.
“Mass deportations will serve only to harm both Thailand’s economy, which remains heavily reliant on migrant labour, as well as Thailand’s international reputation,” Mr Somchai said on February 18.
“More importantly, sticking to this rigid deadline means after February 28 migrants will fall victim to gross exploitation as they are forced underground at a politically sensitive time for Thailand. Systematic corruption will then prosper,” he said.
Mr Andy Hall, the director of HRDF’s Migrant Justice Program, told The Myanmar Times that “migrant workers would continue to work in Thailand illegally” after the deadline passed.
“The threats of the Ministry of Labour and the Thai government to deport after [February] 28 seem unrealistic,” Mr Hall said. “Deporting millions of workers non stop is not an easy task.
“The economy needs them also and they will just come back. We think if they threaten to deport [workers], it just means they shall be driven underground and then it is exploitation by officials and others,” he said.
“These ‘migrants’ could well be seen to contribute greatly to the economy, and remain an untapped source of cultural and spiritual vitality that could enrich and diversify Thai society.
“Instead they are seen as commodities or worse: as one big national security threat.”
Mr Sean Turnell, an associate professor of economics at Australia’s Macquarie University and editor of Burma Economic Watch, dismissed the threat of deportation as a “cruel gesture”.
“I don’t think the Thai [government] will follow through … this is really about internal Thai politics, and as a gesture it’s enough,” Mr Turnell told The Myanmar Times in an email interview.
Mr Paitoon said the NV process was an attempt to reduce, rather than exacerbate, exploitation of migrant workers.
“We are a member of the United Nations and other international organisations,” he said. “So if Myanmar workers are abused and exploited in Thailand, non-government organisations and other human rights organisations will blame us.”
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