[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index
][Thread Index
]
BP: June 1, 1998: Burmese workers k
- Subject: BP: June 1, 1998: Burmese workers k
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 05 Jun 1998 20:34:00
June 1, 1998
LABOUR / ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS POSE
PROBLEMS
Burmese workers
keep crossing Thai
border
The influx creates a great opportunity
to unscrupulous Burmese officials and
Thai syndicates to earn some easy
money.
Supamart Kasem
Mae Sot
As the government starts rounding up and deporting illegal
immigrant workers, an estimated 1,000 Burmese still make their
way across the border each day here to find work in Mae Sot,
and hopefully in Bangkok and central provinces.
Informed sources said this seemingly endless influx in the face of
Thailand's economic woes and closure of the Myawaddy-Mae
Sot checkpoint by the Burmese in mid-April has presented a
great opportunity to unscrupulous Burmese officials and
well-connected Thai syndicates to earn some easy money.
These corrupt Burmese officials charge workers 200-500 kyats
per head to let them through, while Thai syndicates demand
3,000-5,000 baht to bring them to Bangkok or other provinces
outside Tak, sources said.
No concrete evidence can be found to suggest that the two
groups are colluding, but each obviously knows the other's
activities and enjoy the mutual benefit.
The sources estimate that half these workers, mostly from
Burma's ethnic minority groups, cross the border daily to work
as labourers and return in the evening, but the other half opt for
the risky road to Bangkok and other provinces, hoping to find
higher-paying jobs.
The sources said few of the workers seeking jobs outside Tak
succeed as the syndicates usually fail to deliver after pocketing
the fee. "Many are abandoned along the Mae Sot-Tak highway
or other roads. Sometimes these gangs intentionally run into
police checkpoints and the workers are arrested and sent back,"
they said.
Pol Capt Preecha Suwanronasorn, an inspector of the
Immigration Police in Mae Sot has a lower estimate of the daily
influx of 600-700 workers.
"All are illegal of course because Burmese authorities have
closed its side of the border," he said.
An informed observer pointed out that a number of factors in
both Burma and Thailand were making it impossible to stop
Burmese workers from leaving their homes and for Thai
authorities to absorb jobless Thais.
First, the "push factor" on the Burmese side remains. The
political situation under the Burmese military government in
Rangoon whose focus is said to have changed from "restoring
law and order" to establishing "peace and development" still
guarantees no safety for ethnic minority groups.
There is no work for them and supplies of consumer goods are
limited in markets.
Second, Thai authorities have not reciprocated when their
Burmese counterparts closed their side of the Myawaddy-Mae
Sot border simply because the Thai private sector still needs
cheap labour.
Tak governor Huekharn Tomorasak responded by announcing a
measure to "temporarily" allow these Burmese workers to cross
into Thailand to buy supplies between 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Pol Capt Preecha said the governor made the decision following
a meeting on May 13 with the Tak Chamber of Commerce.
He admitted the authorities knew of the presence of illegal
workers in certain factories, but were not taking legal action
because it would affect the government's export promotion drive.
Third, the Chuan Leekpai government has been clear on its
policy to deport illegal workers to make way for jobless Thais.
May 1 was the deadline for voluntary repatriation but
implementation measures remain unclear.
Prior to May 1, Thailand allowed unskilled foreign workers from
neighbouring countries to be employed in 13 northern and 22
coastal provinces.
In Mae Sot alone, there are 8,072 registered Burmese workers
with work permits in accordance with two cabinet resolutions of
March 17, 1992 and June 25, 1996. In other parts of Tak, there
are also 26,150 Burmese workers employed in over 100
factories making ready-to-wear clothes, canned vegetables and
fruits, dolls and electronic components, according to Pol Capt
Preecha.
Fourth, it is yet to be proven that jobless Thais are taking up
work previously held by their repatriated foreign counterparts.
Certain academics dispute a direct correlation. They argue that it
is not so simple, as jobs held by foreign workers are mostly
unwanted by Thais because they are dangerous, physically
demanding, dirty and lowly paid.
Since the government announced its new policy on foreign
labour, some 270,000 Burmese have been deported.
Pol Lt-Gen Chidchai Wannasathit, commissioner of the
Immigration Police has ordered that his men facilitate the return
of foreign workers employed in central provinces. They are to be
assisted to border crossings in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai;
Wienghaeng, Chiang Mai; Muang, Mae Hong Son; and Kraburi,
Rayong. Most return by land, except in Rayong where they have
to take a boat.
But often these workers are extorted of all their savings and left
penniless by the time they reach the border.
Earlier this month, a traffic accident killed one Burmese worker
and injured over 30 others who were on their way to Mae Sot.
Aye Naing, 32, a survivor said the two officials escorting them to
the border just disappeared along with the bus driver.
He said the factory owner in Samut Sakorn who employed them
had hired the bus to take them to the border but before the bus
could leave the terminal uniformed officials boarded the bus and
forced each one to pay 3,000 baht as fare.
But despite all the problems Thailand remains a land of dream
and opportunity for many who face hardships at home.
Suu Suu is a 23-year-old woman from Pa-an in central Karen
State. She and her cousin arrived in Mae Sot last week. Each
paid 500 kyats to cross the border and Suu Suu paid 3,000 baht
more come to Bangkok.
"There were others who went with Suu Suu. I can't say for sure
she managed to get to Bangkok safely and found the work she
hoped for, I haven't heard from her since we split here in Mae
Sot," Suu Suu's cousin said.
Saw Tun, a 30-year-old father of three said he does not want to
go back to Burma. "I have nothing there after I sold a small plot
of land I had," he said. "I now have a wife and family to take
care of."
Saw Tun, also from the Karen State said he first came to
Thailand to escape the Burmese army which was recruiting
ethnic minorities to be porters of arms and supplies. He has been
working for a construction company without a permit and living
in a slum outside Mae Sot for the last four years since his
escape.
But the company, hard hit by the current economic crisis, left
Saw Tun jobless recently. "I won't go back now since I have a
family. I thought it would be temporary and the political situation
would improve in Burma. I planned to go back, but not
anymore."
He now relies on odd jobs to make a living.
© The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. All rights reserved 1998
Contact the Bangkok Post
Web Comments: Webmaster
Last Modified: Mon, Jun 1, 1998