Migrant workers worst casualties of the economic crisis

For years, the Thai government has been tolerating and even facilitating the use of cheap migrant labour. An ILO survey of 2006 estimates that Thailand is host to around 1.8 million workers, mainly from Burma, Cambodia and Laos. They represent 5% of the total labour force and have made in recent years a net contribution of about US$53 million annually to the Thai economy.

Employed in agriculture, fisheries, construction, manufacturing and services, they are nevertheless prone to the worst forms of exploitation, close to bonded labour. Even registered Burmese migrants, on average, earn but about half the minimum wage and are not eligible for state services such as medical care or education for their children. Having valid working permits could give a certain level of protection, but registering is an expensive and time consuming process. The risk of being refused or deported is even a greater concern. 

The economic crisis now puts migrant workers in an even more precarious position. The Thai Labour Ministry is currently delaying the issue of some 700,000 work permits, as they will give priority to the estimated one million Thai workers expected to lose their jobs. But questions raise over the efficiency of this measure as Thai workers might show very little interest in these low-grade jobs. Similar measures after the 1997 crisis did not produce the expected results either. Rising unemployment among Burmese migrant workers have moreover a dire effect on Burma’s rural economy, in which millions of people rely on remittance money.

Thailand is not alone in making life more difficult for migrant workers. There are an estimated 100 million migrant workers around the world, many of whom face bleak prospects as economic woes in the Gulf, Singapore and Taiwan lead to mass layoffs of migrants from Bangladesh, China, Philippines, Nepal and other labour exporting countries.