Informal migration for labor
Foreign workers in country
Anti-Myanmar hate speech flares in Thailand over virus
“Wherever you see Myanmar people, shoot them down,” read one Thai comment on YouTube after a surge of coronavirus cases among workers from Myanmar. The outbreak, first detected at a seafood market near Bangkok, has prompted a flare-up in such online hate speech as well as ...
Reporting by Shoon Naing in Yangon; Writing by Matthew Tostevin; Editing by Sam Holmes
Thailand: Migrants Could Benefit from Moves to Ease COVID-19 Restrictions
Migrant workers in Thailand who could not return to their home countries because of the COVID-19 lockdown have lost jobs and suffered financial hardship during the pandemic, but could soon see their outlook improve as the country starts to reopen. Thailand has long been a regional ...
Nontarat Phaicharoen
Migrant workers’ unemployment may hinder disease control
As the Thai economy is heavily impacted by government attempts to control the COVID-19 outbreak, experts believe that the situation for migrant workers may contribute to the epidemic. Proper policies and employment support are needed to set things right. It has been 2 weeks since Rachen ...
Yiamyut Sutthichaya
Covid-19 measures leave Southeast Asia’s migrant workers exposed, lay bare their living conditions
Job loss, crowded quarters and reduced access to healthcare are among the issues foreign workers face. Advocacy groups say the pandemic can only be controlled with an inclusive approach that protects every individual’s rights to life and health. The spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus among Singapore’s migrant ...
Neo Chai Chin
Thai lockdown sparks exodus of 60,000 migrant workers: ministry official
About 60,000 migrant workers living in Thailand have fled the country since authorities shut malls and many businesses at the weekend to curb the spread of the coronavirus, a Thai interior ministry official said on Wednesday. Thailand’s latest measures have left many without jobs and prompted ...
Panarat Thepgumpanat
Free border pass for Songkran returnees
Workers from Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia can return to their countries for the Songkran festival without having to pay a border pass fee, according to a policy committee on tackling migrant worker problems and human trafficking. The waiver was announced at a panel meeting on ...
300,000 migrants expected to leave Thailand for Songkran
An exodus of nearly 300,000 migrant workers is expected from April 5-30 when they visit hometowns for the Songkran festival in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. Labour Minister Pol General Adul Sangsingkeo, following a meeting of the Migrant Worker Management and Anti-Human Trafficking Sub-committee on Wednesday, ...
Focus on Thai fishing distracts from worker abuse in other sectors: researchers
Millions of migrant workers in Thailand’s construction, agriculture and livestock industries suffer from exploitative practices, but a focus on the fishing sector has distracted attention from them, researchers said on Thursday. Migrant workers in several industries get few protections, including a minimum wage and overtime ...
Burmese Migrant Women at Risk in Thailand
Discriminatory practices are holding Burmese migrant women back. “The Burma government doesn’t care that people come to Thailand for work. Sometimes I feel like I want to go home but it’s not any better in Burma. It’s difficult in Thailand, but in Burma there is ...
Extortion and abuse: Myanmar workers arrive debt-laden in Thailand
A “mafia” of recruitment agents is trapping Myanmar migrants to Thailand in debt bondage despite a 2017 law meant to fight exploitation in the kingdom’s notoriously shadowy job market, activists and workers say. Keep reading ...