A thousand #Cambodian labourers deported from Thailand

Some 1,000 Cambodian workers who failed to meet the deadline to legalize their work documents in Thailand have been deported since July 1, said officials at the Poipet border at Banteay Meanchey province.

Provincial Labour Department director Ros Sarom said officials had issued legal documents to most Cambodians working in Thailand before July.

“The word undocumented or illegal worker does not exist anymore. For example, those who remain illegally are workers brought into Thailand by agents, if they are arrested each worker could face a fine of up to 800,000 riel and they will be deported.

“Undocumented workers will face stern action from the Thai government and Thailand has clearly announced that all Khmer and Vietnamese workers must be documented in order to work in the country. If undocumented workers are arrested, we cannot help them,” he said.

Pi Somnok, deputy human trafficking officer of the Anti-Human Trafficking Office of the provincial police, said the number of Cambodian returnees fluctuates – ranging from 20 workers to 100 workers a day.

“Migrant workers return home to obtain legal documents so they can go back to Thailand to work. There are cases where (Cambodian) workers are arrested by Thai officials and deported, and sometimes they (Cambodians) approach Thai officials to send them home,” said Somnok.

Last year, the Thai government issued an order to all migrant workers to obtain legal documents by June 30, so that they can work legally in the Kingdom. This was part of the government’s effort to weed out illegal workers.

Source - TheNation

7 #Myanmar workers rescued from sugarcane farm in #Thailand

 

Thai and Myanmar officials have rescued seven Myanmar nationals who were tricked into working for nothing on a sugar-cane farm in a forest in Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand.

 According to the Myanmar Aid Alliance Committee (AAC) and Myanmar embassy officials, the seven were rescued Wednesday by Thai officials, including members of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), immigration and army.

Speaking to The Myanmar Times on Thursday, AAC member Ko Ye Min said “The workers were asked by a Myanmar labour broker to work at a sugar-cane factory in Thailand.

“But the broker had sold them as slaves. They had to work without pay, their cell phones were taken away and kept by the farm owner, and they were under constant guard to prevent them from escaping.”

.

.

 The victims are all from Bago Region, five of them from Sat Su village in Waw township and two from Htan Tapin village in Taungoo township.

The victims managed to escape on foot from the farm and called the AAC for help.

According to the seven, the broker had threatened them by saying the girls would be sent to brothels and the men to work on fishing boats in Thailand.

The AAC reported the matter to the DSI, which, after consultations with Myanmar embassy officials, mounted a rescue operation and saved the seven from the forest, Ko Ye Min said.

“We [the AAC] and the embassy managed to send them home. All the victims are back in Myanmar,” Ko Ye Min confirmed on Friday.

Embassy officials said the broker took the victims to Thailand via an illegal route two months ago.

The officials told The Myanmar Times on Thursday that they had sent back all the workers to Myanmar and Thai officials will investigate and take action against the broker for human trafficking.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Thet Naung of the Myanmar Anti Human-Trafficking Police Squad said they had received news that the DSI had saved the workers. “But, we have not got the official version from the Thai side. We will speak to the workers when they get back home. We will take legal action after we have investigated and have all the information on the matter from the workers,” he said on Friday.

An official of Waw township administrative department said on Friday he had no knowledge of any human trafficking.

Source - mmtimes