Illegal Burmese in Thailand

[brelief@xxxxxxx]

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>From DAWN News Bulletin
Vol 6 # 1, January / February 1996
Human Rights Violations

CHEAP AND VULNERABLE: DILEMMA FOR
THAILAND

The trafficking of Burmese illegal migrant workers for cheap
labor was again brought to people's and media's attention when
more than fifty illegal Burmese immigrants were injured when
they were caught in a fire on a truck inside Thailand.  

The incident took place on January 14, 1996 on a 10 - wheel
truck, jammed with about seventy Burmese illegal immigrants
hiding under tarpaulin sheets. The fire broke out on a highway
in Tambon Bangwan, Khura Buri district of  Phangnga
province. All of them were picked up in Ranong with the
promise to get jobs in Phuket.

According to the victims who were sent to the nearby hospitals,
there were about seventy Burmese men, women and children in
the truck; the truck was fully covered with tarpaulin sheets
which were tied with strings very tightly. Only fifty - three
were hospitalized and some escaped from the scene. "Many
people suffered bad burns because the fire broke out about
thirty minutes before the driver became aware of the incident
and then stopped the truck," sub Lt Somchai Boonklob of
Kuraburi police told Reuters. The driver neither attempted to
put out the fire nor cut off the strings over the tarpaulin sheet,
but he fled from the scene. The tarpaulin sheet broke apart and
fell down over the victims and burnt them seriously.

Ma Khin Swe, a 15 year - old Mon girl from  Nhe Padaw
village, Mon State recalled her experience, "Somebody could
open a small outlet in the front part of the tarpaulin sheet in
back of the driver's cabin and escaped one after another
through it. We all were in disarray because the burning sheet
was falling down onto our bodies. Some tried to escape
through the rear exit which was surrounded by burning sheets.
Some jumped down through the rear exit." It was found out
that women and children were more severely burned than men
as men managed to jump off from the rear exit and front hole.
Most of them were burned on their arms, faces and backs.

"It was extremely hot in the truck with burning. I would die if I
stayed inside anymore. So l decided to jumped down from the
rear exit. I was burnt some parts of my body. I did not know
how many people left inside the truck. Many people hastily run
away from the scene because they scared to get arrested when
the police arrived to the scene. Some took temporary refuge in
nearby plantation farm because they got seriously burnt. I saw
a baby about one year old was thrown out from the truck," told
Ko Pauk, who was hospitalized in Ampher Takorewapa.

All were from Burma, mostly from Moulmein, Thabyuzeyat,
Ye township from Mon state and Tavoy, Mergui township
from Tanassarim division. They came to Thailand to find jobs
and to escape from the economic hardships in their homeland.
Some came with their whole family, but some were with a
group of friends. Among the 53 patients in five hospitals, there
were 36 men and 19 women. Most of them were between 15 -
20 years old.

They arrived first to Ranong and were later promised by the
smuggling rings good jobs in Phuket.  Later they were required
to pay 3,000 bahts for transportation to Phuket. Many of them
borrowed some money or gold from their relatives in Burma so
that they could pay in cash right away. For those who could
pay cash, the charge for transportation was 2,000 baht.
However, those who did not have money were charged 3,000
baht to pay back when they got the job in Phuket. They were
separately put in one warehouse at Ganphala area in Ranong, a
brick house behind the Ranong market and a rubber plantation
site in the outskirts of  Ranong before they were taken into
Phuket. 

This incident highlights the flood of illegal Burmese migrant
workers into Thailand. The presence of an estimated 500,000
illegal workers spread throughout 50 provinces in Thailand,
compared with 38,000 in 1987, raises the question of whether
Thailand's long - standing policy towards illegal immigrants --
prohibition of their employment and deportation when arrested
-- should be reviewed.

The illegal workers, mostly unskilled or semi - skilled, come
mainly from Burma,  Laos, Cambodia, India, Pakistan, Nepal,
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. According to a survey by the
Employment Department,  Thailand, the illegal migrants who
were Burmese nationals, including ethnic minorities
totaled 300,000; Indians, Pakistanis and Sri Lankans totaled
100,000; Chinese 100,000; and Laotians and Cambodians
combined 10,000.

These migrants were most common in ten border provinces:
Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son, Tak, Kanchanburi,
Ratchaburi, Chumphon, Phetchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan
and Ranong. They work mostly as fishermen; on rubber
plantations; construction sites and orchards; and in factories,
mines and goods transport services in border areas. "There are
five sorts of jobs often turned down by Thais - hard, dirty,
risky, humdrum and lower paid. Their rejection of this work
has caused employers to recruit foreigners cheaply," said Mr.
Prasit Chaithonghan, director general of the Employment
Department.

The number of illegal Burmese increased dramatically after
1990, as increasing human rights abuses and economic
hardships forced young men and women to leave Burma. The
political turmoil and human rights violations against the rural
people led the mass flux of refugees and migrant workers into
Thailand.  Forced labor, porterage and unpaid labor in the
military barracks for at least two weeks in every month made
the people suffer from severe poverty. Moreover, different
forms of taxation by the Slorc became a big burden for these
people. It was the only way for them, especially for young men
and women, to leave their home and work in Thailand. In this
way, they could escape from the oppression by the Slorc and
economic hardships.

At the same time, a serious shortage of  unskilled labor in
Thailand has also paved the way for an alarmingly high influx
of illegal immigrants seeking jobs. Currently, several business
sectors face increasing labor shortages because of the high
economic growth in Thailand. Businesses requiring more
labor, especially the unskilled, include construction, fishery,
rubber harvesting, domestic labor and farming. High demand
for cheap labor is undermining all efforts to stop the inflow of
illegal immigrants.

Illegally - employed foreigners, because of their vulnerability
and  willingness to work for whatever they can get, provide a
cheap answer. Employers are known to pay 50 - 60 baht a day
to each Burmese, compared with an official minimum wage
for Thais of 145 baht. Moreover, they are also vulnerable to
the abuses and exploitation by the Thai police and their
employers. Trafficking of illegal immigrants from the border
towns in Thailand into other big cities has expanded
considerably because of the lucrative rewards. Smugglers
receive 1,500 - 3,500 baht for delivering a Burmese worker to
Thailand, depending on the distance to the final destination. In
some cases, Thai immigration officials or police officials are
involved in "human trafficking rings." 

Last November 1995, a senior officer of National Security
Command's mobile development unit No 33 was arrested with
his driver at a Huai Yaou checkpoint while he was taking 52
Burmese to various provinces.

There are many methods of trafficking the people into
Thailand. Traffickers arrange for the safe passage all the way
with relevant officials by paying bribes. Burmese would hide
in the trucks or van when they passed the checkpoints. None or
very few times the police checked the truck. Sometimes the
police in uniform drove a car with Burmese illegal migrants
and the car did not even stop at checkpoints. An alternative
was to trek through jungle to a pick up point. They would then
have to hide under vegetables or other cargo when the vehicles
reached checkpoints.

Most Burmese did not bring or did not have any money to pay
for their trafficking charges to move from border towns to
cities inside Thailand. For these people, traffickers brought
them to the worksite and sold them for approximately 8,000 -
10,000 baht. Workers had to work without any pay for three to
four months in the worksite like debt - bondage. Many are
working for much lower than the minimum wage and in
deplorable working conditions. From their low pay is deducted
a sum of money for an extra protection fee in order to bribe the
local police. The Thai employees pay the bribe which is
collected from the Burmese illegal workers and given to the
police in order that they turn their eyes. Many Thai employers
welcome the illegal workers, knowing they need to pay them
only about half the minimum wage. In order to avoid paying
these illegal workers, in some cases, the employee deliberately
informs the police to arrest his workers on pay day. Thai police
are often accused of arresting illegal workers simply to extort
money from them.

In much the same way that prostitutes have been jailed while
their pimps go free, it was the migrant workers who were
penalized, not their employees. Thai firms know the flexibility
of using foreign workers as long as labor shortages in Thailand
continue, and then upon arrest, authorities would be able to
repatriate them to Burma. Following their arrest, illegal
immigrants had to pay Bt 2,000 before they would be released
from jail and deported from Thailand. When in detention, they
faced appalling overcrowding, sexual harassment and
inadequate food rations.

Abuses also accompany deportation procedures. Thai officials
regularly deport between 250 and 500 migrant workers at the
Thai - Burmese border. Having spent some time at the
Immigration Detention Center in Bangkok, these people were
sent to Kanchanburi, Ranong and Mae Sot police station where
they had to stay for a week to a month, in overcrowded and
unsanitary conditions. Then they were dropped off on the
Burmese border. Some of the unfortunate were rearrested by
the Burmese military upon their arrival into Burma for illegal
departure from their country. They were fined 300 - 500 kyats
or three months imprisonment. In 1995, at least 25,000
Burmese have been deported, half of them from Bangkok,
according to the Bangkok Post (Dee 17, 1995).

On the Thai side, the authorities are concerned that the
immigrants could pose a threat to national security and to the
lives and property of local people. Major crackdowns on the
illegal immigrants are launched. The number of illegal
immigrant arrested by the Immigration Bureau of Thailand has
increased sharply, from 6,000 in 1994 to more than 70,000
last year, resulting in overcrowding of jails and prisons in
Bangkok and Provinces bordering Burma. The bureau plans to
build six holding centers for illegal immigrants awaiting
deportation. The first will be in the southern province of
Ranong. The Thai government has already set aside Bt 18
million for the construction of six holding camps. The camps
will each hold up to 300 deportees. One center will be built in
Chiang Mai and another in Chonburl. The sites of the other
camps have not been determined, according to Pol Lt Gen
Kiattisak Prapawat, commission of the Immigration Bureau.

On the other hand, in order to cure the cheap labor shortage in
Thailand, The National Security Council recently decided to
allow them to work legally through registration with the
Employment Department. Illegal immigrants must receive
amnesties from the Interior Ministry before they can work
legally. Also employers must then register them with the
department and put up a 5,000 baht guarantee for each one,
according to Mr. Prasit Chaithongphan, head of the
Employment Department.

Ten provinces have been given permission to hire illegal
immigrants: Chiang Mai, Chaing Rai, Mae Hong Song, Tak,
Kanchanaburi, Phetchaburi, Ranong, Prachuab Khiri Khan,
Chumphon and Phang Nga.

Thailand is playing double - sided policy towards the Burmese
immigrant workers They are using Burmese workforce for the
cheap labor and at the same time launching major crackdowns.
That double - sided policy leads the Burmese illegal
immigrants more vulnerable and more exploited in their daily
lives.

Many people immediately classify the Burmese illegal
immigrants as the better job seekers in the foreign land. They
fail to focus on the root reason for the flux of illegal Burmese
into Thailand. Very few per cent of people are coming to
Thailand merely for better opportunity and money. Most of
them come here to escape from the economic hardships and
poverty in their home land. They could not survive in their
home land anymore. The human rights violations such as
forced porter, forced labor and forced relocation, and many
forms of high taxation forced them to flee They decide to leave
their home for their own survival rather than for better jobs.
One illegal immigrant said "I used to work 15 days for Ye -
Tavoy railway project as the forced laborer and then another
15 days for other forced labor projects in my region. I had no
time for my family's survival. I decided to leave for Thailand
in order to escape these abuses and get some money for my
family They were starving at home." The poverty of the people
and human rights abuses towards them are closely interrelated.
Where there is no right to life, there is no way to survive and
victims are forced to leave from that situation.

These poverty and human rights abuses forcing the Burmese
immigrants to come into Thailand and work any job available
for them. Again in Thailand, they face more exploitation for
being illegal immigrants. With lack of understanding to their
root causes, no one can find the best solution to this problem.
Without solving the political dilemma and human rights
violations inside Burma, more and more flux of illegal
Burmese workers into Thailand would occur in the future.

ABSDF News Agency.
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