Final rush for migrant workers as registration ends today
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Migrant workers flocked to the Thai government labour office in Samut Sakhon today to apply for nationality verification, as the government insisted that today's deadline will not be extended.
Those who fail to have their nationality verified by today will be repatriated, said Labour Minister Padermchai Sasomsap.
The majority of workers in Samut Sakhon on the Gulf of Thailand, 100 km southwest of Bangkok, are from Myanmar. The province is known for its fishing industry.
The Thai Chamber of Commerce on Thursday called on Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to defer the deadline for nationality verification, saying the mass repatriation of migrant workers would result in a severe labour shortage nationwide.
Padermchai said the deadline had been extended twice and Thai employers wishing to rehire repatriated workers can apply to the Labour Ministry.
Nationality verification is significant in solving the problem of illegal foreign labour employment, which has negatively branded Thailand as a country where child labour and human trafficking are rampant.
Yanin Bunmee, chief of Samut Sakhon’s nationality verification centre for Myanmar workers, said the daily verification of 200400 migrant workers has sharply increased to nearly 1,000/day in the last two days, compelling labour officials to work until 2am daily.
Myamnar workers reporting here are from Samut Sakhon and nearby provinces.
