How Far Will the Govt Really Go to Protect Migrant Workers?

By KAVI CHONGKITTAVORN

"I have to apologize for meeting all of you in this condition," said Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya. His audience was a group of 22 out of 78 Rohingya people currently detained at the Immigration centre in this coastal town on the Andaman Sea.

It was the unexpected arrival of the stateless Rohingya boat people from Burma in January that put Thailand's smallest province, with just 180,787 people, on the world map. This was followed by international condemnation of Thailand and its alleged inhumane treatment of the illegal immigrants, who were earlier turned back to sea by the Thai Navy.

"I am here to help you. We want to see all of you return home to contribute to your country," Kasit went on to say. "We will get all the help we can bilaterally, regionally and internationally," he emphasized, adding that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees had the resources to deal with the repatriation.

After the minister's short introduction, several of the Rohingya spoke through an interpreter using the Bengali language. They told Kasit familiar tales of abuse and even torture and the treacherous journey that took them to Thailand. Each of them had a version of the horrifying stories. This group of Rohingyas arrived here two months ago. Their wounds have healed and only three are still recuperating at the Ranong Hospital.

When Kasit asked them what they would like to do if they were able to return home in the future, all of them were flabbergasted and their faces were full of bewilderment. Almost all said they did not want to return to Burma. Only five said that they were Bangladeshi and wanted to return to the country they belonged to.

After an hour at the detention centre, Kasit was whisked away to the Ranong Customs Pier to witness the repatriation of 30 Burmese illegal migrants back to Burma's Koh Song, the nearest border town, only a15-minute ride away by long-tail boat. The Ranong Immigration authorities probably wanted to impress the minister with this less publicized and non-controversial push-back.

Before they left Ranong in the long-tail boat, Kasit told the migrants: "Remember my face. I will return to visit you and your families to make sure you are doing well. We are not running from each other. We will work together with your government and Asean to improve your lives." A plainclothes army colonel interpreted the foreign minister's pledge into Burmese, adding, "He is the foreign minister, the man you saw on TV."

As the boat left the pier, the Burmese workers waved their hands, some with smiling faces beaming with hope.

Illegal migrant workers and boat people, both Burmese and Rohingya, will be top of the agenda when Kasit makes a scheduled visit to Rangoon on March 23. He said this will be a familiarization trip, but he would like to discuss these two issues.

"The Burmese government has shown goodwill during the Asean Summit. We want to work together with them. The government there has to help us and Asean," he said.

Both at the detention centre and the pier, Kasit told reporters that the Abhisit-led government has no vested interests or hidden agenda in its policies on Burma.

"Thailand wants to set things straight, no hanky-panky," he said with a broad smile. He hopes that Thailand and Asean's comfort level with Burma will increase over time and that mutual trust will grow.

As a member of the Asean family, he said, the Burmese leaders know what they must do to increase confidence among the rest of the family. At the Cha-am/Hua Hin summit, Burma extended the mandate of the Asean Humanitarian Task Force and the Tripartite Core Group for another year until July 2009. Asean welcomed the move. That much was clear.

Kasit said that Thailand is currently reviewing its policy on Burma, as were many other countries.

After years of Burmese policy being tampered with by groups with vested political and business interests, Thailand wants to take a comprehensive approach to bilateral issues, particularly illegal Burmese migrant workers, about 3 million of whom reside in various parts of Thailand. At the moment, at least 20,000 Rohingyas are working inside Thailand, including at the venue of the Asean Summit in Hua Hin.

Kasit said the government recognized the important role played by these workers and that ways must be found to give them decent lives.

"They should be given proper registration, proper healthcare and social welfare. They are contributing to local economies," Kasit told 1,500 district heads and villagers from various districts in Ranong, which itself host a huge number of Burmese workers.

So far the registration of migrant workers has not been done professionally.

"The vital data on these people is still missing," Kasit pointed out.

Some of the village heads, however, have strong views and want the government to take strong measures to push all illegal workers back to Burma.

Kasit had to calm some village heads who lost their cool. At the provincial level, however, senior officials said Ranong needs the workers in factories and fishing fleets.

There are around 80,000 registered Burmese workers in Ranong—making almost one in three of the people here Burmese. Nobody can tell how many unregistered workers are inside the province, but just visit any shop here, and one will see one or two Burmese workers inside. Just to demonstrate that migrant workers do have money to spend, all gold shops have Burmese price tags, and one shop had a sign saying "Only cash please" in Burmese.

Concerning political developments inside Burma, Kasit said that Asean would like to see a more inclusive national reconciliation process to strengthen unity, including the release of political detainees and the inclusion of all political parties in the political process.

His call coincided with the upcoming campaign to obtain 888,888 signatures for the release of all political prisoners in Burma, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

According to Free Burma's Political Prisoners Now, there are over 2,100 political prisoners still detained in Burma's jails.

Kavi Chongkittavorn is Assistant Group Editor of Thailand's English daily The Nation and this article appeared in The Nation on Wednesday.