Mekong Migration Network

Press Release
June 22nd 2010

Proposed Measures to Arrest Undocumented Migrants Are Life-Threatening
and Counterproductive

The Mekong Migration Network is deeply concerned for the safety of migrant workers in Thailand following Order No 125/2553 of the Prime Minister’s Office, regarding the Suppression, Prosecution and Arrest of Migrants Working Underground.

During 2010 alone there have already been 23 reported deaths of migrant workers resulting from acts of suppression. In the third week of January nine Karen job-seekers were shot dead in Phop Phra District, allegedly after being unable to pay a bribe to local police. On February 25th 2010, three migrant children (a three-year-old, six-year-old and 16-year-old) were shot dead when soldiers fired at the car transporting them. In Phuket, on March 8th 2010, two young sisters drowned while trying to escape a police raid on their camp.
On May 23rd, 2010, nine Chin migrants, including two young children, died and 19 others were seriously injured when the pick-up they were travelling in was fired upon and chased by a police car in Petchburi province.

The members of the Mekong Migration Network are greatly disturbed by this use of lethal force by the various Thai authorities (police, border police, army) against undocumented migrants. We fear that these deaths and injuries will multiply if the policy to suppress and arrest migrants is enforced.

In addition, we believe that to set up the Centre for the Suppression, Prosecution and Arrest of Migrants based in the Ministry of Labour is counterproductive to efforts being made to regularise migrants with temporary passports; and also to fulfilling the Ministry of Labour’s stated goal to enhance the quality of life and social security for workers.

Giving the mandate of suppression, prosecution and arrest of workers to the Ministry of Labour will clearly undermine all workers’ confidence and trust in the ministry, and will threaten the security of all workers in Thailand. The enforcement of the labour laws for migrant workers is already shamefully weak, and should the ministry take on the role of policing the immigration status of migrants, the workers will have no legal avenues through which to improve their working conditions.

Only a small percentage of migrants undergoing nationality verification have actually received their temporary passport, the rest, almost one million, are still in the process. Since the process requires trust and cooperation between migrants, employers and local authorities, the current Order is also likely to impact on the effectiveness of regularising undocumented migrants. Migrants have long experience of mass raids which do not screen migrants’ status. It is highly likely that some migrants holding only appointment cards for nationality verification will also be arrested, together with undocumented migrants, and this will undermine the confidence of all migrants to proceed with regularisation.

Furthermore, ordering the arrest of the 300,000 migrants who were eligible to enter into the nationality verification process but did not follow through does not address the shortcomings of the process, it only causes more confusion, distrust and resentment.

The Mekong Migration Network thus makes the following recommendations:

1. to protect migrants from the dangers of arrest, detention and deportation we call on the Royal Thai Government to
• immediately revoke Order No 125/2553
• limit the use of arrest, detention and/or deportation as a strategy to respond to irregular migration – but when it is used, to ensure that the procedures are carried out with safeguards established in international human rights, and national, laws
• to strictly abide by the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials which requires that law enforcement officials shall as far as possible apply non-violent means before resorting to the use of arms when performing law enforcement duties

2. to respond to irregular migration, we call on the Royal Thai Government to

• facilitate the nationality verification, temporary passport and work permit process for migrants currently in the system
• open the system of obtaining nationality verification, temporary passports and work permits to all migrants

3. to protect the safety of migrants, we call on

• the National Human Rights Commission to investigate all cases of use of lethal weapons by authorities in relation to the arrest of undocumented migrants
• the Ministry of Justice to ensure that witnesses to such incidences are protected and that migrant witnesses are provided with documentation to remain safely in Thailand during the investigations
• the Ministry of Justice to ensure that families of victims of state violence are properly compensated
• the Ministry of Labour to perform its duties in protecting and safeguarding workers by ensuring that working conditions conform to the national laws and the ILO Decent Work standards

For further information please contact:
Ms. Laddawan Tamafu +66 8 1595 1364 (Thai/English)
Mr. Sutthiphong Khongkhaphon +66 8 1595 1366 (Burmese/English)

Press Release:
Deaths of Migrants Must be Investigated
March 19th 2010

On February 25th 2010, in Pak Nam sub-district, Ranong province, soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division fired on a pickup truck carrying 13 undocumented migrant workers from Burma, resulting in the deaths of three migrant children. Those killed were a three or four year old, six or seven year old girl, and a 16-year-old boy. Five others were also injured during the shooting¹.

On March 9th 2010, in Phuket, a 20-year-old woman and a young girl from Burma drowned in a river while fleeing from the police who arrived at the worker’s quarters at night. The woman had a work permit and was enrolled in the new nationality verification program and the girl was holding the temporary identification document (Tor Ror 38/1). According to a witness, workers nearby were too afraid to go and rescue the drowning pair, as the police held them off at gun point.

The Mekong Migration Network (MMN), a sub-regional network of 38 member organisations working together to protect migrants’ rights in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), is appalled by such tragic deaths of innocent children and women. These deaths would have been avoided if proper procedures had been followed and if the safety and well-being of migrants was respected.

In 2006-2007, the MMN conducted collaborative research on the arrest, detention and deportation (“ADD”) of migrant workers in the GMS and highlighted serious human rights abuses, as well as a lack of transparency and accountability during processes that involved ADD. While MMN’s core recommendation is that policies be amended so that migrants are not constantly at risk of arrest, detention and deportation, in the event that migrants are arrested, detained or deported, we called for the procedures to be carried out in a humane, safe and transparent manner and only by authorized, trained authorities².

In response to these latest tragedies, The Mekong Migration Network urgently calls for the Royal Thai Government to:

1. Conduct full and impartial investigations into these events to ensure that the authorities involved are held liable for their actions.

2. Facilitate access to justice for the victims and their families and ensure that they receive adequate redress.

3. Take immediate steps to ensure that the relevant authorities enforce safe and humane procedures during the arrest and deportation of migrant workers according to the Thai Criminal Procedure Code; the 1997 Measures in Prevention and Suppression of Trafficking in Women and Children Act (Section 9); and Article 22 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant workers and their Families (1999).

4. Address the level of fear and insecurity that has been created in the migrant community which leads to even fully documented migrants being terrified of uniformed officers.

Footnotes:
1. “Three Migrants Killed by Thai Army”, in Irrawaddy, 26 February 2010, “Migrant Children Shooting Unacceptable: HRW”, in Irrawaddy 9 March 2010
2. Mekong Migration Network, Migration in the Greater Mekong Subregion: Resource Book—In-depth Study: Arrest, Detention and Deportation”, 2008, p.177. Downloadable at http://www.mekongmigration.org/?page_id=73

In late 2009 MMN launched a new project entitled “Mekong Vocabulary on Labour Migration – promoting a common language understanding in the region and building a regional network for safe migration in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS).” The initiative is supported by the Toyota Foundation Asian Neighbors Program.

Millions of migrant workers in the GMS continue to work and live without any form of immigration status or sufficient labour protection. In order to formulate coherent responses, cross-border and multi-sector collaboration are crucial. Existing efforts are sometimes hindered by a lack of common understanding of the issues and relevant terminologies. This is a result of both language barriers and differing, and sometimes conflicting, perspectives on migration issues.

Hence the project aims to increase common understanding of terminologies by filling an information gap and providing a forum for informative discussion and collaborative application of these terms among participating civil society groups. Three small workshops will be held for the project partners to discuss the various terminologies and their definition of the terms in English and in the GMS languages.

As part of the project MMN will also produce a booklet describing various labour protections in the respective GMS labour laws. This will be used as a reference guide for civil society and government agencies to better understand policies of neighbouring countries. The direct beneficiaries of this project will be civil society organisations working on migration issues in the GMS. However, publications from the project will also be used for government meetings and training – thus there is potential to help policy dialogue in the GMS become more in-depth and be based on mutual understanding.

The first workshop was held on 26-27th February, 2010, in Bangkok, Thailand, with around 20 project members from the six GMS countries. During the workshop project members participated in several activities, including identifying differences in understanding migration terms, and collectively making a detailed work plan. The second workshop is scheduled for September 2010.

19 February 2010

Dr Surin Pitsuwan,

Secretary General of ASEAN,

The ASEAN Secretariat,

70A Jl. Sisingamangaraja,

Jakarta 12110, Indonesia

Tel : (6221) 7262991, 7243372

Fax : (6221) 7398234, 7243504

Heads of Government of

Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia,

Lao PDR, Malaysia, Burma (Myanmar), Philippines,

Singapore, Thailand & Viet Nam,

c/o Secretary General of ASEAN

Dear Sirs/Madam,

Re: Justice for Workers in Burma

3,600 Workers Protest for Worker Rights – February 2010

On 8/2/2010, about 3,600 factory workers, mostly women, from 3 factories in the Hlaing Tharyar industrial zone in Rangoon, Burma, protested against low wages and the substandard working conditions they are forced to endure in the factories.

It was reported that the workers at the Taiyee shoe factory and the Opal 2 garment factory began protests on Monday calling for higher daily wages, overtime payments and several other demands. On Tuesday, workers from the Kya Lay garment factory joined the strike action.

The workers, mostly women, staged protests outside the factories and inside a factory compound, where they sat down and refused to work. The three factories employ a total of about 3,600 workers.

The monthly income of most factory workers in Burma is very low, ranging from 20,000 kyat [USD20] to 40,000 kyat [USD40], thus forcing many workers to work overtime. Most workers work from 7 am to 11 pm daily. Many factory owners employ temporary workers who have no legal recourse if they are fired without compensation, according to former factory workers in Rangoon. More than 80 percent of factory workers in Rangoon work on a day-to-day basis. Most are young women between 15 and 27 years of age who come from the countryside in search of a better living.

[The Irrawaddy, Authorities Threaten Violence at Rangoon Strike – http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=17771]

The workers’ demands in these actions, for example, with regard to wages, as was reported, are for a mere USD10 increase per month.

The Burmese government’s response to this legitimate industrial action by workers was excessive and oppressive It was reported that, the “…Authorities used barbed wire barricades to block roads leading to the factories in the Hlaing Tharyar industrial zone in the city’s north-east, and more than 50 truckloads of riot police carrying batons and shields were deployed and at least six fire engines and five prison vans were parked near the factories…” [AP - Straits Times, 10/2/2010, Myanmar workers on strike]

Today (19/2/2010) although the workers are back in the factories, they continue demanding for their rights. In Burma, they are even more vulnerable and powerless without a change in the existing laws to allow the right to assembly and to allow workers the right to form unions.

Burma is a member of ASEAN, and as such we call upon ASEAN and all ASEAN member countries to do the needful to ensure that workers in Burma, just like other workers in other ASEAN countries, also receive just wages, have a safe and healthy working environment, enjoy the right to form unions and all other universally acknowledged worker and human rights.

We also call on ASEAN, and ASEAN member countries to closely monitor the current situation at the Hlaing Tharyar industrial zone, and ensure that these workers rights are recognized and respected, and that the Burmese government refrains from further interfering in this pursuit of rights by workers in Burma.

Further, on 23 October 2009, the Heads of State/Government of ASEAN presided over the Inaugural Ceremony of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), during which they also announced the “Cha-am Hua Hin Declaration on the Inauguration of the AICHR” to pledge full support to this new ASEAN body and emphasize their commitment to further develop cooperation to promote and protect human rights in the region.

Noting that the primary purpose of the AICHR is to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of the peoples of ASEAN, we hope that the AICHR will begin proving that it is not merely a toothless tiger by ensuring that the human rights of these workers in Burma are promoted and protected.

Many ASEAN member countries, like Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, invest significantly in Burma. We hope that these economic and other self-interest considerations will not affect the way ASEAN, and its member nations, response to human rights violations of the ordinary people and workers in ASEAN.

I look forward to hearing your response,

Yours sincerely,

-sgd-

Pranom Somwong

Charles Hector

3585A Kg Lubuk Layang,

Batu 3, Jalan Mentakab,

28000 Temerloh, Pahang, Malaysia .

Email:- p_somwong@yahoo.com ; chef@tm.net.my

For and on behalf of the 56 Organizations/groups listed below:-

ALTSEAN-BURMA

All Kachin Students and Youth Union

All Burma Federation of Student Unions (Foreign Affairs’ Committee)

Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and development (APWLD)

Asia Pacific Solidarity Coalition (APSOC)

Asian Migrants Center(AMC)

Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) – Youth and Women

‘Alltogether’, the South Korean left organization

Amnesty International Philippines

Batis Aware, Philippines

Burma Global Action Network

Burmese Women’s Union (BWU)

Burmese Rohingya Association in Japan

Burma Campaign, Malaysia

Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB)

Center for Migrant Advocacy (CMA) Philippines

Center for Overseas Workers (COW)

Coalition against Trafficking in Women – Asia Pacific

Chin Democracy and Human Rights Network (South Korea)

Civil Society Committee of LLG Cultural Development Centre Bhd(LLGCSC), Malaysia

Committee for Asian Women (CAW)

Coordination of Action Research on AIDS and Mobility (CARAM) Asia

Democratic Party for a New Society (DPNS)

Empower Foundation, Thailand

Free Burma Coalition Philippines (FBC-Philippines)

Free Burma Coalition – Philippines (Women’s Committee)

Foundation for Education and Development, Thailand

Human Rights Education Institute of Burma (HREIB)

Human Rights and Development Foundation (Thailand)

Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID)

JERIT (Oppressed People’s Network, Malaysia)

Kachin Development Networking Group

Korean House for International Solidarity, KHIS

Labour Behind the Label, United Kingdom

MAP Foundation, Thailand

Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC)

MSC/NWC- Sri Lanka,

MAKALAYA (Women Workers Network)

Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA)

National League for Democracy [NLD (LA)], Malaysia

Network of Action for Migrants in Malaysia (NAMM)

Network for Democracy and Development

Parti Sosialis Malaysia (Socialist Party of Malaysia, PSM)

Pagkakaisa ng Kababaihan para sa Kalayaan (KAISA-KA)

Piglas Kababaihan

Partido ng Manggagawa (PM - Workers’ Party)

Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon Migrants’ Trade union (MTU), Korea

Studio Xang Art for Migrant Children,Thailand

Thai Labour Campaign (TLC), Thailand

Think Center (Singapore)

The Action Network for Migrants (ANM), Thailand

The Shan Refugee Organization (SRO), Malaysia

Task Force on ASEAN and Burma (TFAB)

Worker Hub for Change (WH4C)

Women Health, Philippines

World March for Women - Philippines

ON January 11, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Major General Sanan Kachornprasart, in a suit, tie and face mask, gave a press conference at the National Immigration Bureau. He was joined by Immigration Bureau Commander Police Lieutenant General Wuthi Liptapallop, also in a face mask; Social Development and Human Security (MSDHS) Minister Issara Somchai; and 557 Cambodians, some who had lost their legs and were the apparent cause for face masks.

The officials, standing before the cameras and a table piled high with crutches and prosthetic limbs, said the day kicked off their campaign against human trafficking and smuggling gangs.

The 557 Cambodians – a group of 220 men and 337 women, many elderly or severely disabled – were deported as illegal migrants and dumped unceremoniously at the border the next day.

The Cambodians were said to be beggars. They had been rounded up in a sweep of Bangkok streets in the four days before the press conference.

According to subsequent news reports, the operation was spearheaded by the Immigration Bureau and the National Operation Centre on Human Trafficking, which are targeting the traffickers and smugglers that bring beggars to Thailand.

“Beggars disturb foreign tourists and damage the tourism image of Thailand,” Wuthi said at the time.

Although an anti-trafficking effort provided the pretext for the crackdown, Thailand’s anti-trafficking policy, which has taken many agencies, many years and many baht to craft, seemed to have been summarily dismissed.

Though no one disputes Thailand’s right to follow its own immigration laws – indeed, hundreds of illegal Cambodian migrants are deported each day – the action troubled a number of observers and organisations that say the Cambodian beggars were deported in violation of Thailand’s own Anti-trafficking in Persons Act, without the screening to identify trafficking victims or individuals entitled to protection.

Cambodian beggars are often vulnerable to trafficking, and Thailand has a well-established policy to deal with the population more discriminately.
In the days following the deportation, the Mekong Migration Network, an affiliation of 35 civil organisations in the region, issued a statement protesting against the “deportation of Cambodian beggars without due process”, and called for appropriate screening mechanisms and respect for the rights of migrants, saying they should not be treated as criminals.

Weeks after the much-publicised roundup, questions remain regarding the handling of the group. Neither the Foundation for Women nor Friends International, NGOs with Khmer speakers that usually assist the Immigration Bureau in the screening process, interviewed members in the group of 557. The groups didn’t know whether anyone had. Several UN outfits and a handful of anti-trafficking organisations in Cambodia are also curious, but unaware of the circumstances or whereabouts of the deported group.

The Immigration bureau declined to comment or even provide basic statistics regarding the deportation, saying that responding would threaten the integrity of the deported beggars and its own reputation.

The MSDHS deferred comment to the immigration authorities, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed concern but said it was “still in the dark” about the situation.

The unusual, high-profile handling of the group, at a time when Thai-Cambodian relations are particularly heated, has led to speculation that the deportation was political theatre.

Regardless of the government’s motives, NGO workers who interact with those begging on the streets have noted fears and increasing movement underground among Cambodian beggars, who worry they will be mistreated because of the political situation between the two countries.

In the days since the mass deportation, the police have continued their sweeps. Following the scrutiny of human rights groups, however, they have been holding the rounded-up beggars – a group of 70 individuals ranging in age from less than 1 to 77 – at the immigration detention centre.

The Foundation for Women has been given access to the group and conducted screening interviews with select women and children among the beggars. Their testimony suggested the beggars had come to Thailand voluntarily, and it’s impossible to reach a firm conclusion regarding the involvement of traffickers. At the same time, they cautioned that children signalled to each other and gave rehearsed answers during questioning, making it difficult to ascertain whether their answers were accurate. Some in the group were unwilling to give testimony, and others were evasive and pretended to not understand, despite the presence of a Khmer speaking translator.

It was also noted that although these vulnerable groups may qualify for social services and a spot in Thailand’s government shelters, they may not understand or want them. They often want only a steady income and to return to work, the foundation noted.

For these reasons, and many others, it is difficult to identify trafficking victims.

Handling beggars

To resolve Thailand’s issue with Cambodian beggars, the foundation has suggested DNA tests for parentage, better cooperation between Thai and Cambodian authorities, and more channels to access and assist vulnerable populations.

Under the present system, when beggars are apprehended, they are interviewed by Khmer-speaking staff members of the MSDHS or affiliated NGOs who have been trained to identify victims of trafficking.

Those who are identified are sent to either Ban Kred Trakarn, the women’s shelter, or Ban Phumvet, the men’s, where they are provided with various forms of assistance, compensation and support in prosecuting their traffickers.

Those not identified as trafficking victims, but who have been rounded up by the police for the first or sometimes second time, will be sent to the Nonthaburi Reception Home for Destitutes, a shelter where they are interviewed about their migration and provided shelter and vocational training for the several months it takes to ready them for repatriation. In these first instances of begging, Thailand’s Bureau of Social Welfare and Cambodia’s Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation work together to gather information about the migrants, locating family members and home villages, and creating a repatriation plan.

Beggars who have been rounded up by the police multiple times will be sent to the Immigration Detention Centre and deported. Many social workers and NGO staff members comment that this is the preferred fate for most of the beggars, as they waste no time or money cooped up in shelters. They often return to Thailand a few days later.

The stream of Cambodian beggars into Bangkok can seem endless; there are children who claim to have been to Thailand on 20 separate occasions to beg. The Thai and Cambodian governments struck a deal in 2008 to better manage the repatriation and migration of the begging population, but Somjit Tantivanichanon, the superintendent of the Nonthaburi Reception Home for Destitutes, says the formal process is still slow and lacks the follow-up services to make repatriation effective and permanent.

Not trafficked

Recent research also suggests that most Cambodian beggars are not victims of trafficking. According to a 2006 study by Friends International, an NGO that was founded in Cambodia and now works with street children on multiple continents, most children claim to be begging in Bangkok with a parent who has made the journey voluntarily. About 20 percent of the children were begging under more dubious circumstances, with a non-blood relative often identified as a family friend.

“It came out very clearly – they may be exploited when they arrive, but they come because they believe they can make much more money here,” says Tamo Wagener, international coordinator for Friends International.

The organisation’s research shows that begging in Thailand is almost always a more lucrative pursuit for Cambodians than working in their homeland or migrating to Thailand, legally or illegally, for minimum-wage work. The same study found that begging works in Thailand – more than 80 percent of 400 Thais interviewed frequently gave to beggars.

The research also seems to largely debunk the widespread belief that beggars are highly organised networks operated by Cambodian gangs.

Though Friends International staffers said gang-run begging rings may exist to a limited degree – there was some evidence to suggest this is the case for street children selling flowers, sweets and small goods – the overwhelming number of cases they encounter involve Cambodians who come to Bangkok voluntarily to beg. They found beggars enjoy freedom of movement and working hours, and live independently in rented rooms.

They also found no evidence that beggars were deliberately mutilated for the purpose of begging.

Still, the research also found that 80 percent of child beggars did not want to continue begging, and Chalermrat Chaipraser, Friends International’s country programme director, emphasised the importance of identifying alternatives.

“No one likes to beg. It’s not socially rewarding,” he said. “But as long as there is lots of money here and few alternatives in Cambodia, they will come.”

Tuesday, 16 February 2010 15:01 Erika Fry