You wouldn't have illegal Burmese w

[TheTruth@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Dear Thai Embassy,
 In reference to the news article below, Thailand wouldn't have illegal
Burmese workers if Burma was a safe and stable country. You must change
the SPDC. If they stop murdering, extorting, raping ,etc. then the
people would not be fleeing for saftey and a future.

Signed, 
Philip F. McCracken,III
The Rangoon Post

______________________________________________________________________

Thais Repatriate Thousands of Illegal Workers

               Reuters
               17-FEB-98

               BANGKOK, Feb 17 (Reuters) -
               Thailand has repatriated about
               30,000 illegal foreign workers in the
               past three months as the country
               grapples with an economic crisis and
               growing unemployment, officials said
               on Tuesday. 

               Most, or about 85 percent of the
               repatriated illegal workers, had come
               from Myanmar (Burma), official
               immigration records show. 

               The records show that as of February
               5, 29,412 illegal Myanmar workers
               had been sent home through border
               checkpoints since the start of
               November. 

               Demand for cheap but illegal foreign
               labour has fallen in the face of an
               economic crisis which is forecast to
               almost double unemployment in
               Thailand to over two million. 

               Labour and Social Welfare Minister
               Trairong Suwanakhiri has said he will
               repatriate an estimated 300,000 alien
               workers registered to work in
               Thailand when their current one-year
               terms expire. 

               The number of aliens registered to
               work in Thailand has more than
               halved from 300,000 in September,
               officials said. 

               ``The official record shows as of
               February 10, only 141,610 alien
               workers working with Thai
               employers,'' a registrar at the Ministry
               of Labour & Social Welfare told
               Reuters. 

               Trairong has also urged the Ministry
               of Interior to help send back a further
               one million workers who have
               entered the country and are working
               illegally. 

               Foreign workers who once sought
               work on Thailand's formerly booming
               construction and agricultural
               industries have found their skills no
               longer required as building projects
               stall or newly unemployed urban
               Thais move back to the provinces. 

               ``We received reports from the
               provinces that employers had
               stopped hiring nearly 30,000
               Myanmar workers and 7,000 Thais
               have been hired to replace them,'' a
               labour official said. 

                  Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.All rights
                                       reserved.