The police truck was full of people; you could clearly hear the cries of the children. Those inside the truck stared sadly out, silently sitting in the crowded space and wondering why they had been arrested. They had already finished registration to be legal migrant workers in Thailand and they had paid money for this registration. As I sat down in the truck and looked around at the people’s faces I felt that I also wanted to cry out loudly but I tried to control myself. When we arrived at the police station it was already 4 o’clock and at that time we were put in the prison. There were more than 70 people in the prison. There were Burmese people, Muslim people and Karen people. They were very tired and hungry but nobody gave them any food to solve this problem. The children were also crying and asking for food.

I was lying against the wall in the corner of the room when a policeman came to me and gave me a phone and indicated that I had a call from someone. I refused to answer the phone so he went back and said something in Thai. I do not understand Thai so what he said I do not know.

Those inside the truck stared sadly out, silently sitting in the crowded space and wondering why they had been arrested

The next morning the police gave fried rice with eggs to each of us. After breakfast we had to stand in line and they wrote numbers on our hands before photographing us and taking our thumbprints. Then they put us in a small room and we were told we had to pay 500 Baht before they would release us from the prison. Any person who could not pay would be deported across the Moei River back to Burma. Some people could pay for themselves, but some people, like me, could not pay. They asked us to get in the truck and then they locked it. A few minutes later a policeman came to the truck and told me to get out. I pretended that I did not hear him but everyone looked at me. Then the head of the police (Salwa) came to me and asked me to get out of the truck. He told me that my brother had arranged for me to go back to the camp. I did not have to pay any money.

According to my brother he had contacted friends and asked them to help. Later they arranged my release and phoned me to let me know. When I was arrested my brother had followed me closely and slept at the police station the whole night. When I was in prison I learned more about Burmese migrant workers in Thailand. Even though they had already finished registration their bosses did not give them their original registration document, they only got a copy. For this reason the police could arrest them at any time. Furthermore they had to pay back their bosses for their registration fee and so half of their salary was taken causing more problems in their lives.

It is estimated that thousands of Burmese migrant workers come to Thailand every year; this number is thought to be continually increasing. People flee to neighbouring countries to escape the deteriorating economy and widespread human rights abuses by the military regime. Migrant workers from Burma come from a variety of geographical locations and ethnic groups. These people are faced with the choice of either trying to illegally enter the refugee camps or becoming migrant workers. Burmese migrant workers are in demand in Thailand because they are considered cheap labour.

Many migrant workers enter Thailand with already huge debts owed to the people who helped smuggle them in. One trip across the border, with human traffickers who have connections on both sides of the border and often provide cars for the transportation, costs between 3,000 and 5,000 Thai Baht. Burmese workers make up approximately 80 per cent of migrant workers in Thailand. Lao and Cambodians are the other two largest groups of migrant workers. These people often settle in Thailand as well, also fulfilling the demand for cheap labour.

The Thai Government scheduled the latest migrant worker registration process for the period of 1st to 30th June 2005. The aim of this was to allow migrant workers to work safely and reside legally in Thailand.

However from my personal encounters with workers who have gone through the registration process, little seems to have changed from when they had no registration. One migrant employee who worked in a rose garden in Mae Sot said he started work at 6 o’clock in the morning and finished at 8 o’clock at night. His boss only gave him and his co-workers half their salary and apparently put drugs in the water to make them work harder and faster. Workers have no redress against such abuse. There is no one to report them to and their bosses say that if they leave their jobs, they will be arrested by the police. Their situation is made worse by the fact that often workers only get a copy of their work permits. Their employers keep the original.

Many people, despite the registration process still have no sense of security or practical rights. Many aspects of their lives are controlled by their bosses. There is no solution unless migrant workers have full employment rights.

Mirgant Workers There are between 400,000 and 2 million migrant workers in Thailand, with the most common estimate placing the figure at around 1.5 million people, mostly from Burma. The 2004 Thai migrant registration process was the first time where each worker could register up to three dependents. Earlier this year the Thai authorities held another registration process, but only migrant workers who registered in 2004 were eligible. It is estimated that less than half of Thailand’s migrant workers are registered and consequently they are subject to poor working conditions and wages well below the minium standard. To undergo the registration process is time consuming, expensive and requires the support of the employer. With thousands of unregistered migrant workers competing for jobs, employers can exploit the saturated market at the expense of the migrant workers.

To go to the other articles published in the October 2005 BI Newsletter click on the links below:

Motivated by Money: Environmental Policies in Burma
Land Confiscation: Killing by Default