Thai govt denies migrant crackdown as thousands flee By Nyan Lynn Aung and Bill O’Toole | Monday, 23 June 2014 7 Fears are growing for the future of Myanmar migrant workers following what many have described as a crackdown by the Thai military authorities, which led to the flight of hundreds of thousands of foreign workers from Thailand last week. Myanmar children whose relatives work in Thailand listen as Thai General Sirichai Distakul speaks at a centre for migrants in Thailand on June 16. Photo: AFPMyanmar children whose relatives work in Thailand listen as Thai General Sirichai Distakul speaks at a centre for migrants in Thailand on June 16. Photo: AFP On June 16 the Thai government dismissed reports that security forces were carrying out a crackdown on migrant workers. However, many civil society groups based in migrant communities are not convinced. U Moe Gyo, chair of the Joint Action Committee for Burmese Affairs, who met with junta representatives in Mae Sot, Thailand, last week, said the Thai authorities had admitted that security forces had carried out several raids on migrant communities in Mae Sot over the past month, arresting about 300 undocumented workers. However, U Moe Gyo, echoing media reports from the border, said the number of workers detained is closer to 1000. “As far as I know there are a small number involved in drugs … It might be only 1 percent of them,” U Moe Gyo said. Thailand’s military government, officially known as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), is yet to release figures for the number of migrants apprehended to date. On June 20, Myanmar state media reported that its embassy in Bangkok had been informed that the NCPO is only targeting undocumented workers. Of the more than 1 million Myanmar migrants currently working in Thailand, about half are undocumented, according to UN statistics. Ko Kyaw Thu Htike, a volunteer at the Mae Tao Clinic in Mae Sot, confirmed media reports that local police had imposed stricter controls on the movement of migrant workers. In the case of the Mae Tao Clinic, migrant workers must now present both a certificate from the clinic and a temporary work visa when requesting medical treatment. Ko Kyaw Thu Htike said that prior to the coup migrants only had to show a certificate to enter the clinic for treatment. International rights groups were highly critical of the changes. “The Thai junta’s new regulations have caused a massive flight of migrant workers, who have long endured abuses from officials and unscrupulous employers,” Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said in a statement on June 20. “The junta needs to reverse this disaster by quickly putting into place genuine reforms that would protect migrant workers’ rights, not threaten them.” Daw Khin Nway Oo, deputy director general of the Myanmar Migrant Workers’ Department in the Ministry of Labour, said the ministry had already instructed consular services in Thailand to assist migrant workers. She added that the government had yet to receive a list of Myanmar migrants awaiting deportation, and did not know where they would arrive. Her statement came after an estimated 220,000 Cambodian migrants fled back to their home country in response to the new security measures. In its June 16 statement, the Thai junta implied that the mass exodus was the result of irresponsible international news coverage, not their policies. “Thailand has been pressured by human rights organisations and the international community on issues of human rights violations, human trafficking, the use of illegal and forced labour, physical abuse of migrant workers, etc., which are not true in any way,” the statement said. “The dissemination of such information has compromised Thailand’s credibility and affected the operations of the NCPO.”
Ref--Myanmar Times
Thai govt denies migrant crackdown as thousands flee By Nyan Lynn Aung and Bill O’Toole | Monday, 23 June 2014 7 Fears are growing for the future of Myanmar migrant workers following what many have described as a crackdown by the Thai military authorities, which led to the flight of hundreds of thousands of foreign workers from Thailand last week. Myanmar children whose relatives work in Thailand listen as Thai General Sirichai Distakul speaks at a centre for migrants in Thailand on June 16. Photo: AFPMyanmar children whose relatives work in Thailand listen as Thai General Sirichai Distakul speaks at a centre for migrants in Thailand on June 16. Photo: AFP On June 16 the Thai government dismissed reports that security forces were carrying out a crackdown on migrant workers. However, many civil society groups based in migrant communities are not convinced. U Moe Gyo, chair of the Joint Action Committee for Burmese Affairs, who met with junta representatives in Mae Sot, Thailand, last week, said the Thai authorities had admitted that security forces had carried out several raids on migrant communities in Mae Sot over the past month, arresting about 300 undocumented workers. However, U Moe Gyo, echoing media reports from the border, said the number of workers detained is closer to 1000. “As far as I know there are a small number involved in drugs … It might be only 1 percent of them,” U Moe Gyo said. Thailand’s military government, officially known as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), is yet to release figures for the number of migrants apprehended to date. On June 20, Myanmar state media reported that its embassy in Bangkok had been informed that the NCPO is only targeting undocumented workers. Of the more than 1 million Myanmar migrants currently working in Thailand, about half are undocumented, according to UN statistics. Ko Kyaw Thu Htike, a volunteer at the Mae Tao Clinic in Mae Sot, confirmed media reports that local police had imposed stricter controls on the movement of migrant workers. In the case of the Mae Tao Clinic, migrant workers must now present both a certificate from the clinic and a temporary work visa when requesting medical treatment. Ko Kyaw Thu Htike said that prior to the coup migrants only had to show a certificate to enter the clinic for treatment. International rights groups were highly critical of the changes. “The Thai junta’s new regulations have caused a massive flight of migrant workers, who have long endured abuses from officials and unscrupulous employers,” Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said in a statement on June 20. “The junta needs to reverse this disaster by quickly putting into place genuine reforms that would protect migrant workers’ rights, not threaten them.” Daw Khin Nway Oo, deputy director general of the Myanmar Migrant Workers’ Department in the Ministry of Labour, said the ministry had already instructed consular services in Thailand to assist migrant workers. She added that the government had yet to receive a list of Myanmar migrants awaiting deportation, and did not know where they would arrive. Her statement came after an estimated 220,000 Cambodian migrants fled back to their home country in response to the new security measures. In its June 16 statement, the Thai junta implied that the mass exodus was the result of irresponsible international news coverage, not their policies. “Thailand has been pressured by human rights organisations and the international community on issues of human rights violations, human trafficking, the use of illegal and forced labour, physical abuse of migrant workers, etc., which are not true in any way,” the statement said. “The dissemination of such information has compromised Thailand’s credibility and affected the operations of the NCPO.”
Ref--Myanmar Times
No comments:
Post a Comment