Migrant workers still cheated in Thailand

 

“The Thai government issued work permits for workers who already arrived in Thailand. But the workers in Thailand invited their relatives to come to work also. They told them that if they come now, they can register officially. Some have been sent to Thailand illegally by the brokers,” Sein Htay said.

The policy in Thailand encouraged more Myanmar workers to go to Thailand, mostly from Kayin and Mon States, plus Bago and Yangon regions.

Some workers lost between Bt5,500 to Bt7,000 (Ks 167,470 to Ks 213,143) for nothing.

Migrant workers have complained of poor living conditions in Thailand. According to Burma Study Centre’s survey, most of respondents in Chiang Mai want to go home but peace talks are top of their concerns. 

In another development, Moe Gyo, chairman of the Joint Committee for Movement of Myanmar Citizens’ Affairs, said that “free” schools for migrants from Myanmar in Thailand are facing financial difficulty.

A report by the Myanmar migrant workers’ protection committee at the Myanmar Embassy in Thailand last year said there were 147 free schools for migrants in that country. But the number was likely to decrease by 10, due to a general lack of funding.

Moe Gyo said: “People from the schools are weak in organising activities as they behave like educational authorities. Only a handful of leaders from the factories have a hand in it even though these schools are named ‘Myanmar migrant schools’. The free schools call for help from Myanmar migrant workers and contributions to local social organisations via the Myanmar embassy at times, when they face financial difficulties due to the lack of donors.”

The schools educate children of migrant workers in Thailand, but they face difficulties due to the lack of funds and teachers and because international donors are more interested in local causes to contribute to.

About four million migrant workers from Myanmar work in Thailand. Half of the children of these workers are educated at these schools, which are often not totally free.