Activists have called the Labour Ministry’s proposal to send pregnant migrant workers back to their home countries a basic violation of human rights.Labour Minister Padermchai Sasomsap has proposed that migrant workers who are in an early stage of pregnancy should be sent back to their home countries to deliver their babies, returning to Thailand to resume their work after giving birth.

The minister said this would prevent human trafficking and child labour.

However, the ministry has not defined the term “early stage of pregnancy” and details of the proposed regulation have not been fleshed out.

Adisorn Kerdmongkol, coordinator of the Migrant Working Group, said the proposed regulation would violate basic human rights and would not solve the problem of child labour.

Instead, he said the government should strictly enforce child labour laws and prevent children from entering the workforce. He said education law should be applied with greater rigour so fewer children drop out of school to take up jobs.

Mr Adisorn said children born in Thailand to migrant workers should be legally recognised.

Their births should be certified as this would enable authorities to recognise that they are underage if they come across them during factory inspections.

Sompong Sakaew, head of the Labour Rights Promotion Network Foundation, said the minister clearly had no grasp on the child labour problem.

He said most migrants, after giving birth to babies in Thailand, voluntarily send them back to be raised in their home countries. The children return to Thailand when they are old enough to work.

He said the workers needed access to safe birth procedures and they trusted Thailand’s medical standards. “Sending them away not only infringes their human rights but denies them their rights to basic health security,” Mr Sompong said.

Bundit Thanachaisetthawut, labour specialist at the Arom Phong Pha-ngan Foundation, said some employers have used pregnancy as an excuse to turn away people seeking work.

By Penchan Charoensuthipan
Published on 27 June 2012