Large numbers of migrant workers in Mahachai return to Burma
Wed 28 Oct 2009, Jaloon Htaw
According to a Mon migrant worker source living in Mahachai, in Thailand’s Samutsakom province, hundreds of Burmese migrant workers living in the city have already returned to Burma after opting not to register for the new temporary passports that will become mandatory for migrant workers in Thailand this February.
This source reported to IMNA that last week, he saw truckloads of roughly 300 migrant workers departing from Mahachai several times a week. Reportedly the travelers paid migrant brokers working in conjunction with the Thai Mahachai police force to plan their trips back to Burma.
“They went back in police trucks, I saw them. Three different days last week, they went back. They said, they don’t want to get the temporary passports,” he said.
According to a female Mon migrant worker who works in a canned fish factory in Mahachai, more than 10,000 migrant workers of different ethnicities work in her factory alone, include Mon, Burmese and Tavoian nationalities. This source claims that while many of her peers are preparing to depart now, many are waiting until the end of the year to earn extra funds. Many Burmese migrant workers fear that the paperwork for the temporary passport, which requires applicants to write down their home addresses in Burma, will result in the Burmese government demanding funds from their families back home.
“In our factory nobody is going back in this month. Some, at the end of this month, they have to go back. Some, after the end of the year they will go back. After getting a temporary passport, they are afraid the Burmese authorities will collect money [from their families]. So they are going back,” she added. A second female Mon migrant worker, who is employed at a snack foods factory in Mahachai, also reports that many of her fellow workers are returning home; many are waiting for their current temporary IDs to expire at the end of the year, which will allow them to earn extra money for travel costs.
“Every day, migrant workers are going back, I have heard. In our factory, at lead 100 people have already gone back. Not all are going back immediately. Some migrant workers want to pay for the travel cost, so they are waiting until the end of the year,” she added.
According to a member of the Raks Thai Foundation, a non-profit organization in Mahachai that provides services to migrant workers, on the 24th of October of this year, the Thai labor ministry sends a letter to all of the country’s factory owners, ordering them to ensure that their migrant workers registered for the temporary passports. These orders have resulted in many factory owners and supervisors cutting the salaries of migrant workers who refuse to register.
“Now, almost 1000 migrant workers already have temporary passports in Mahachai. But, some of migrant workers don’t want to get them still. The Thai labor ministry already sent a letter, some of factory owners are forcing them to get passports [the migrant workers] but some are don’t force them. They explain the situation to them. It depends on the migrant workers to get make the passports. Some of the migrant workers don’t want a passport, so they go back. But some are also going back to resolve personal matters anyway,” he told IMNA.
The current migrant worker ID cards expire in February 2010, when the new passports become mandatory. According to the March 31st issue of The Nation, the Thai labor ministry is preparing to issue 400,000 foreigners migrant workers in Thailand.
According to the Mae Sot Branch of the “Human Rights and Development Foundation”, in 2009, roughly 500,000 migrant workers had legal identification to work in Thailand, while 700,000 migrant workers lacked ID’s. At least 200,000 migrant workers in Mahachai alone lack proper identification.
