ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT WORKERS

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT WORKERS

An unwilling host
IMMIGRATION: Despite public and private sector efforts, the number of
illegal alien workers continues to rise.

SURAT JINAKUL
Adecade back illegal immigrants - mostly Burmese - left their country for
political reasons, or due to internal fighting and insecurity. Recent
reasons are more economic. To escape hardship in their home countries, they
find work as unskilled labourers in Thailand.
Government authorities feel that if there had been a systematic job-hunting
process in Thailand at the onset, these problems could have been avoided.
A labour official said, "The problems arose because the influx [of
jobhunters] has never been systematic nor under any kind of control. Things
were done without official guidelines."
The problems referred to include national security as well as social and
economic problems.
Efforts to control illegal immigration through the regular work of agencies
were to no avail. Business operators had been among the top protectors of
illegal immigrants due to the shortage of domestic sources of labour.
Business sources claim that Thais refuse to do certain types of hard labour.
The crackdown on illegal immigrants has been a game of cat-and-mouse until
recent years when the number of illegal immigrants and unskilled workers
increased to over one million.
Concerted effort: Various agencies have come together to discuss this
problem. The National Security Council (NSC), in charge of national policy
making, and other agencies at the operational level, including the Interior
Ministry's Local Administration Department, the Immigration Bureau, the
Labour and Welfare Ministry as well as the Foreign Affairs Ministry have
all voiced concern.
State agencies and NGOs agreed on the importance of upholding national
security while considering the real need for foreign labour in light of
labour protection and human rights. 
A Cabinet resolution issued on June 25, 1996 called for the registration of
foreign workers and the implementation of a system that would allow for
greater state control. The same resolution granted that these foreign
jobseekers could work in specific jobs for two years, after which they
would have to return home. 
The resolution applied only to illegal jobseekers from Burma, Laos and
Cambodia.
Despite this legal avenue, compliance has been less than total. Many
illegal immigrants and their Thai employers continue to conceal their
presence at workplaces. Latest figures show that only a handful had
registered with authorities and had found legal jobs. One reason for this
is that the legal route requires specific fees.
For instance, employers are required by law to put up a guarantee fee of
1,000 baht per labourer. Each worker is also required to undergo a health
examination at 500 baht per person. Either the worker or the employer can
pay the 1,000 baht required for the registration card. The law also
requires Thai employers to have ten Thai employees for every illegal
immigrant hired.
Unwanted positions: On August 6, 1996 the Cabinet passed another resolution
which gave business operators 15 days to report any alien workers they
employed. (The deadline was August 21.) The jobs for foreign workers were
also limited to 11 types. 
The current situation: Ministry of Labour and Welfare records show there
are presently 986,889 illegal alien workers with no work permits employed
in Thailand. Of these, 93,111 were granted temporary work permits in
response to the Cabinet resolution of June 25, 1996.
The Police Department reported in May this year that 219,775 illegal
immigrants had been arrested and sent back home. An estimated 674,003 remain. 
This number includes the family members of registered working immigrants
such as child dependents, those who refuse to register, as well as those
whose employers refuse to comply with the law.
The report said more than 80 percent of the illegal immigrants in question
are Burmese; less than 20 percent are Laotian and Cambodian. 
Much of the Thai problem of illegal entries and illegal workers results
from its geographical location. The common borders with Thailand's three
neighbour countries are long and accessible, measuring 2,202 kilometres
with Burma, 1,750 kilometres with Laos, and 789 kilometres with Cambodia.
But Thailand has been an unwilling host to illegal immigrants from other
countries as well, including China, Bangaladesh, Pakistan, Russia, in
addition to other European and African countries. These, however, are in
much smaller numbers and do not pose any serious threat.
For one reason, these illegal immigrants from non-neighbouring countries
are transits rather than job-seekers. "Their main objective is to go to
another country, not to work here," said an inside source at the
Immigration Bureau.