Amnesty Report Spotlights Thailand’s Treatment of Burmese Migrants

They see us as troublemakers, never as friends.”

Migrants work in garment factories, on construction sites, in agriculture and fishing and as maids in private homes, the report said.

Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Asia, Catherine Baber said, “The Royal Thai Government should ensure that the security forces do not arbitrarily arrest migrant workers, particularly in order to extract bribes.”

“It should protect migrant workers from mistreatment, harassment and intimidation by employers, police and local officials, and ensure that they are not returned to countries where they risk torture and ill-treatment.”

Also in its report, Amnesty International urged the Thai government to guarantee that “all workers in Thailand enjoy basic labor rights, including adequate wages, reasonable working hours, and safe and healthy working conditions.”

Of 1.2 million migrant workers registered in Thailand last year, 900,000 are from Burma, according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare in Bangkok. There are also thought to be thousands of unregistered Burmese workers in Thailand.

Since June 1, Thailand has ordered migrant workers from Burma, Cambodia and Laos to extend one-year-long work permits before June 30. But before starting the process, the Thai authorities arrested hundreds of illegal migrant workers. Recently, the Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association based in Mae Sot said that hundreds of workers were rounded up and deported.

Similarly, Thailand’s Bangkok Post reported the arrest of 48 illegal Burmese migrants in the southern Thai town of Ranong on Tuesday. It said some of the migrants planned to go to Phuket and would have to pay 3,000 baht (US $75) per person to job agents, while others intended to go to

Malaysia

, at a cost of 22,000 baht ($550) each in brokers’ fees.