Thailand to legalize all foreign migrant workers
BANGKOK - The Thai government has reiterated its determination to register and legalize all of 3.8 million migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos by the end of March.
The country started to provide legal services to foreign workers in early February by opening 80 "one-stop service centers" nationwide to legalize them, with the ultimate aim to erase human trafficking, child labor and forced labor in the kingdom.
"What we are doing is not making troubles for employers and migrants workers. We are making it easy for employers to employ legal workers, who can also work at any place in Thailand according to Thai laws," Anusari Thapsuwan from the Ministry of Labor of Thailand told a news conference in the province of Samut Sakhon on Monday.
She emphasized that the registration of migrant workers will also put them under the protection of Thai laws and create a sustainable environment for everyone concerned.
Thailand, due to its economic advantage to neighboring countries and aging society, has been attracting millions of migrant workers, predominantly from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, to find employment here. Many of these workers work in the so-called "Dirty, Dangerous, Difficult" industries and many are illegal and thus vulnerable to exploitation.
As of February this year, a total of 3,809,519 foreign migrant workers are working in Thailand. About 1.8 million of them are legal while the remaining need to go through the registration process to get work permit and visa to work legally in Thailand for two years until 2020, said Minister of Labor Adul Sangsingkeo.
Many Myanmar migrant workers - more than 90 percent of migrant workers in the Samut Sakhon province are from Myanmar - were seen at a hospital during a media visit waiting to go through the registration process to get legalized.
Everything can be done in a day and none of the workers need to come to the center a second day, said Doctor Molee Wanichsuwan, Director of Samut Sakhon Hospital.
Health checkups
He told the media that the migrant workers are required to go through health checkups and those found to be sick would be treated with their health conditions evaluated to see if they could continue working in Thailand or be sent back to their home countries.
Once registered, the foreign migrant workers would enjoy the same level of minimum wage and other social welfare. This will be guaranteed as employers are obliged to transfer wages to all workers through commercial banks.
According to the Thai government, 537,494 migrant workers had passed through the registration process in these centers up to March 15.
The Thai government has asked all employers to take their employees from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, to register at the one-stop service centers before March 31, otherwise they will be fined or even jailed according to a new regulation of foreign workers promulgated last year.
Xinhua
(China Daily 03/23/2018 page11)
