The NAtion: Editorial/At the bottom

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Editorial & Opinion 

      Editorial/At the bottom of
      the economic barrel

      Unlike their Western counterparts, Asian
      countries have always understood an
      axiomatic truth: Illegal or ''guest'' migrants
      are a sign and contributor to prosperity.
      They are not a cause of economic woe. 

      But what happens to these ill-paid moths to
      the economic flame when the times turn
      bad? That answer would seem easy
      enough: swat them. That is one of the
      supposed advantages of foreign workers --
      they are easily hidden or ignored when
      times are good, and in theory at least,
      easily disposed of when things turns sour. 

      Thailand, along with many other countries in
      the region, has assumed as much in its
      response to the economic crisis that
      engulfed the country last year. 

      On Tuesday the government announced
      that it had repatriated about 30,000 foreign
      workers in the past three months as part of
      Labour and Social Welfare Minister
      Trairong Suwanakhiri's plan to send home
      an estimated 300,000 registered alien
      workers. Trairong has also urged the
      Ministry of Interior to help deport a further
      one million illegal workers. 

      In neighbouring Malaysia, the government
      is taking similar steps to kick out 900,000
      foreign labourers. In South Korea, the
      Justice Ministry said it intended to expel
      146,000 illegal workers, although the
      Labour Ministry asked that the expulsions
      be delayed until August in order to avoid a
      possible shortage in blue-collar labour. 

      Forced exoduses of immigrants may make
      political sense for governments needing to
      look active at times of crisis. But they make
      less economic sense and raise the spectre
      of scapegoating and social upheaval. Such
      political expediency also ignores the crucial
      role foreign labour has played in fuelling
      Thailand's growth of the last decade. 

      Trairong said the expulsion of migrant
      workers, most of whom come from Burma,
      would open up jobs for Thais. 

      But it will be interesting to see if Thai
      workers rush to take up the dirty,
      dangerous, usually seasonal, and invariably
      meagre-paying jobs Burmese, Laotians
      and Cambodians currently fill. 

      And if they do, whether employers will be
      willing to pay them more than the Bt40 per
      day that foreigners are willing to accept for
      long hours of toil as fishermen, construction
      workers, housekeepers and nannies. 

      It is at this point that the danger of social
      conflict emerges, when it appears that
      foreign workers are undercutting local
      workers in their demands for acceptable
      salaries. And even if such friction can be
      avoided and Thais continue to simply shun
      such jobs, then immigrant expulsions lead
      to the problem of labour shortages in
      several key agriculture and industrial
      sectors. 

      Clearly, at a time of crisis the needs of
      Thailand's citizens must be taken into
      consideration first. But deporting foreign
      workers is not doing this. If the government
      is sincere in seeking to help Thai workers
      then more must be done to upgrade their
      skills and knowledge. It is exactly the lack of
      productivity and competitiveness of the
      Thai workforce that lies at the root of much
      of the country's economic woes. For too
      long, government policy and employers
      have sought to get around the productivity
      issue by simply looking for short term
      remedies -- like using foreign labour. 

      Deportation drive or not, it is likely that the
      number of illegal workers -- put at a very
      precise 986,849 by the Interior Ministry last
      year -- will not change much. Foreign
      populations within Thailand are an issue
      that needs careful attention and handling for
      a number of social reasons. They do not,
      however, represent a cure to the country's
      economic woes.