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BURMESE WORKERS/THAILAND



Repatriated Myanmar migrants back to work in Thailand

 .c Kyodo News Service  

  
BANGKOK, Dec. 17 (Kyodo) - Thai police raided garment factories in the Mae 
Sot district near the Myanmar border Friday and arrested nearly 2,000 illegal 
immigrants, many of whom had returned to work only days before after an 
earlier roundup, a senior police officer said Friday. 

More than 100 Thai police raided 10 garment factories and arrested 1,781 
illegal migrants working in the plants, Pol. Maj. Gen. Charnvuth Vacharapuk 
said. 

He said the illegal workers have been returning since Thailand and Myanmar 
reopened their border late last month. The border was closed by Myanmar after 
its embassy in Bangkok was stormed by gunmen Oct. 1. 

''The returnees have nothing to do at home and came to seek work in Thailand 
again, but we have to enforce Thai laws and the government's policy...of 
arresting and deporting them,'' he said. 

Managers of the factories were also arrested in Friday's raid, a departure 
from earlier sweeps that netted only illegal workers, Charnvuth said. 

Employers of illegal foreign workers face up to 3 years in prison, fines of 
up to 60,000 baht (1,561 dollars) or both, according to the 1979 Alien Worker 
Law. 

Thailand has repatriated about 1 million illegal immigrants from neighboring 
countries since it launched a campaign against illegal workers Nov. 3 to open 
jobs for Thailand's 1.4 million unemployed. 

The Thai government, however, allows about 106,000 unskilled workers from 
Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar to work in 37 provinces in 18 labor-strapped 
sectors, including agriculture, fisheries, construction and mining. Their 
permits are valid until Aug. 5 next year. 

AP-NY-12-17-99 0726EST