A Thailand-based activist group says migrant workers from Burma aresignificantly worse off than they were a year ago. The group is urgingthe Thai government to extend legal protections and social safety netsto migrant workers.
The Migrant Assistance Program Foundation,known as MAP, says the global economic downturn has hit migrants fromBurma particularly hard.
According to research released by MAPFriday at the Bangkok press club, 70 percent of workers from Burma intwo Thai cities say they are having more difficulty finding work. Andwhile the cost of living has gone up, 30 percent say their wages werecut during the past year.
The report says factory workers have suffered the worst as exports have dropped with low foreign demand.
SoeLin Aung is one of the authors of the report. He says MAP is askingthe Thai government to fully integrate migrants into the socialsecurity system and to include them in economic recovery packages.
"We'realso asking that they monitor and enforce relevant labor laws along thelines of working hours, minimum wage, and severance pay," he said. "TheThai government should lift travel restrictions for migrants. If weallow migrants to move more freely they can have an easier time oflocating safe and secure employment, which is good for migrants andit's good for the economy frankly because then the migrant workerpopulation can be more responsive to changing economic conditions ifthey can move more freely."
Soe Lin Aung says the group is alsoasking the Thai government to stop threatening to deport illegalmigrants, which he said would help build a more inclusive society.
Most of the migrant workers in Thailand are undocumented and risk exploitation from employers.
TheMAP report says women from Burma have been affected more than men. Many female migrants in Thailand work as household maids.
DengLungjong represents a migrant domestic worker group in Chiang Mai. Shesays employers have stopped paying benefits and annual wage increasesand some are even withholding pay.
But, despite the worsening job situation in Thailand, she says they are not encouraging migrant workers to stay in Burma.
Shesays they do not discourage friends to come to Thailand becausewhatever the situation is like here it is worse in Burma. She saysthere is no work in Burma, whereas in Thailand there are still bits andpieces.
The MAP research was based on interviews, focus groupsand survey results from more than four-hundred migrants from Burmaworking in the northern Thai cities of Mae Sot and Chiang Mai.
Some 300,000 to 400,000 migrant workers from Burma work in the two cities, mainly in agriculture, construction, and factories.