The National Security Council is looking at granting foreign migrant status to about 200,000 illegal immigrants who have lived in Thailand for decades.
The council is considering offering the status, equivalent to permanent residency, to migrants who have lived in the country illegally for 20 to 30 years, NSC secretary-general Thawil Pliansri said.Their offspring will be given Thai nationality.
Mr Thawil said after a meeting of the NSC yesterday the 200,000 migrants were regarded as being “on the run” from authorities.
They fall into the “documented” group of illegal migrants.
Many more migrants, numbering about half a million, are believed to have slipped into the country illegally and are not documented.
Mr Thawil said giving the 200,000 documented illegal migrants the status of foreign migrants would benefit the country.
The state could keep track of their movements and collect taxes from them, he said.
Mr Thawil said another category of illegal migrants was the 100,000 people who fled strife in their home countries and entered Thailand through its western border.
These include Burmese, Rohingya, and North Korean refugees.
Mr Thawil said the government would provide this group with temporary shelter on the condition they were unarmed.
This group is not qualified to receive foreign status even if the NSC’s proposal to treat them in such a way is approved by the government, he said.
A security source said some members of this group showed no interest in settling in Thailand as they land on the border in the hope of being resettled in a third country.
Mr Thawil said some illegal migrants intentionally violate the law while staying here. They form criminal gangs or intentionally overstay their visas.
Authorities will step up measures to arrest them, once officials have completed an estimate of their numbers.
The NSC secretary-general said criteria for giving foreign migrant status to migrants included what jobs they have done during their illegal stay in the country.
If there is a labour skills shortage in that area, they stand a better chance of receiving legal status.
Published: 19/08/2010 at 12:00 AM