Many Myanmar migrants caught in an illegal limbo

AT NIGHT in Bangkok, while many people are out enjoying the nightlife, six Myanmar waiters are in a rush, nervously walking back and forth on a footpath which had a food stall. Their boss has paid bribes to officials, so they are hoping the night will pass without turbulence or a crackdown on illegal migrant workers. 

A 23-year-old waiter, known by the alias “Aung”, cleans a table after diners leave, then quickly jots down orders from a new customer.

His work shift lasts from 10am to 1am. Aung, an ethnic Karen, hardly goes out in his free time; self-confinement has become his way of life. 

“I usually stay in the boss’s house and do not dare to go outside. I feel insecure when I step out the door without my friends and boss,” he said.

Three years ago Aung crossed the border at Mae Sot without a passport or any permit. When he got his first job, his boss didn’t bother to get him a work permit because the registration process is so complicated.

He worked illegally for a year until his third boss helped him to register for work legally. However, when he quit that job, his work permit became invalid and he currently works at the food stall, with illegal status, again.

“When I changed my job, technically my previous boss and I needed to notify officials and apply for a new work permit. But it required leave approval from the former boss and an approval from a new boss. I didn’t have both. I hadn’t yet found a new job, but just wanted to leave the old job because of the low wage.” 

Things got more complicated, as his current boss – the fourth – opened a food stall without legal permission, he didn’t dare register ‘Aung’ or his co-workers for a work permit. On condition of anonymity, Aung’s boss said he had no idea how to apply for work permits for his six employees.

In many cases when workers or employers cannot personally apply for a permit, they hire brokers to secure the necessary documents. But Aung’s employer said that could cost as much as Bt10,000 per employee. 

And even though Aung and his five fellow waiters have no legal work status, their employer has provided a degree of protection by bribing police and other officials. “Currently there are eight police and other authority offices that take bribes from me,” he said.

“Each one takes at least Bt500 per month per head, making me pay about Bt20,000 in total. And I have no choice but to pay.”

 

Work in ‘reserved’ jobs 

Millions of migrants from Myanmar work in conditions similar to ‘Aung’, but many are in an even more complex situation if they work as vendors.

A 33-year-old Myanmar vegetable seller, referred to as “Mu”, relies on income from a stand she rents from her boss. In the evenings she sells vegetable and betel nuts popular in Myanmar. But if she hears that police will patrol the market, she closes her stall. Her occupation violates a regulation Thailand imposed in 1979 that set aside 39 job categories as reserved for locals.

Mu said three different groups of police have told her to pay bribes of Bt3,000 per month after an initial “fine” of Bt25,000 in exchange for “job security”. “Dreams of a migrant worker to have a good life here is far from the truth,” she said.

Mu earns about Bt300 a day from the stall. She has to pay the police bribes, rent for her stall and support her two schoolchildren. That prevents her from saving anything or sending funds back to her family.

Authorities generally allow migrants from Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos or Vietnam to work as unskilled labourers or housekeepers.

Adisorn Kerdmongkol, coordinator from the Migrant Working Group (MWG), said the job reservation rule is outdated and does not accord with current demands for foreign workers to perform many jobs that a growing number of educated Thais won’t do.

“We can’t deny that Thai society demands foreign labour to work in particular businesses such as retail vendors, cooks and waiters in local restaurants, barbers and bricklayers, which the current [Thai] generation does not want to do,” he said. 

The chronic plight of illegal workers has become increasingly visible, especially in special economic zones where there is a high demand for workers.

The government tackles the problem with short-term crackdowns. But the two governments have yet to discuss long-term solutions, he said.

“We have not seen 10-year plans projecting numbers of workers in demand from Myanmar. When we know that plan, both counterparts can talk about mutual guidelines on how to verify people’s legal status before crossing the border,” he said.