Myanmar migrant workers become jobless while officially documented
Many of Myanmar migrant workers with official documents in hand in Thailand are becoming jobless, suggesting that Thai companies preferred undocumented workers, Htoo Chit, founder and a senior advisor for Foundation for Education and Development (FED) sai
Speaking to the Eleven Media Group, Htoo Chit said, "There are many Myanmar migrant workers who lost their jobs although they have official documents in hands already. There are lots of cases that Thai employers discontinued their work contracts once they have obtained the documents. It seems as if they [employers] only wanted the undocumented workers. The cases are getting increased when the officials started issuing official documents," he said.
The Foundation was established in 2000, and registered in Thailand. The foundation is working for protection and promotion of Myanmar migrants' workers rights in Thailand.
Htoo Chit also added that some of the employers in Thailand are concerned about the migrant workers becoming officially documented.
There is a regular flow of migrant workers to ten centers in Thailand which issue temporary passports and official documents to work for them.
"Some of them had to pay up to 10,000 Baht for the temporary passports," he concluded.
There is an estimated 2.5 million migrant workers in Thailand and migrant workers from neighboring countries like Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos make up as much as 10 percent of Thailand’s workforce, according to sources.
