More than 1,000 Burmese workers at the Dechapanich Fishing Net Factory in Khon Kaen, Thailand, have been on strike for three days in support of six fellow workers who were fired for taking more than three days leave a month, according to a migrant rights group, the Migrant Assistance Program Foundation (MAP).

When the six workers were fired on Wednesday, they demanded the return of their personal documents and found that the word “cancel” had been written next to their visa.

Also, their government overseas workers Identification card, issued by Burma’s Ministry of Labor, had clearly been tampered with as the photos and information did not match and the official stamps were not continuously drawn.
The six workers now face imminent deportation, which has been endorsed by their employer, the Labor Protection Office and the Department of Employment.

The striking 1,000 workers have asked that the visas of their six colleagues be reinstated and for their Overseas Workers ID cards to be confirmed and verified. The protesters also asked for all workers to be given their personal documents, including passports, overseas workers ID cards and work permits, as is required by law.

The workers have been unable to meet their employer to negotiate their requests so far, however.

At a recent meeting held between the Labor Protection Office, the employer and the immigration and the MAP Foundation, the demands of the workers were presented but no agreements were reached.

The employer, however, has insisted that the immigration authorities had cancelled the workers’ visas, and that they were therefore unable to work and must be deported.

In order for immigration to cancel a visa, an employer must inform the Labor Protection Office which must then officially inform the immigration department. Any cancellation must include a reason and the signature of the authorizing officer, the MAP Foundation said.

“MAP Foundation is concerned for the safety of all the workers in the Deepanachit Fishing Net Factory and in particular for the safety of the six leaders,” the rights group said in its statement on Friday.

“The regularization of migrants through the issuing of passports and visas should provide protection to workers, but it appears to be used as a method of control and further exploit them,” the statement said.

The Burmese workers said that they received 140 baht (US $4.50) a day. The minimum official wage in Khon Kaen is 157 baht a day.

The MAP Foundation has made an official request to the Committee on the Administration of Irregular Workers and the Ministry of Labor to ensure that the migrant workers are not unlawfully deported.

The foundation also asked for their case to be investigated, particularly with reference to the unauthorized cancellation of their visas and the tampering of their overseas identification cards.

By THE IRRAWADDY Friday, September 10, 2010