Improved protection or just opportunism?
On June 25 the MCOT reported that the minister of Labour is drafting legislation to allow pregnant migrant women to return to their country of origin when they are three to four months pregnant. After giving birth, they can come back to Thailand to start
This policy is being enacted following the release of the US State Department’s 2012 “Trafficking in Persons” report, which placed Thailand on the Tier 2 watch-list for the third consecutive year.
According to the MCOT, the minister thought this policy would prevent trafficking of children.
The Mekong Migration Network congratulates the Thai government for extending the length of paid maternity leave for migrant women. We assume that migrant women will be entitled to nine months’ paid maternity leave since they’ll be required to take maternity leave from the fourth month of pregnancy until three months after giving birth. We also expect the government to provide free appropriate transportation to their home and back to work in Thailand.
Or is it possible that Thailand is so desperate to appease the anti-trafficking lobbyists that it is sacrificing women’s fundamental rights by deporting pregnant women?
Reiko Harima
Bangkok
