Most Burmese Migrants in Thailand Want to Go Home, But Not Yet, Thompson Reuters Foundation
BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Almost four out of five Burmese migrants in Thailand would like to return to Myanmar because of the positive political and economic changes taking place there, but few are thinking of going home within the next two years, the first comprehensive survey on the migrants’ attitudes found.
Workers from Myanmar make up the bulk – 2.3 million – of the 3 million migrants employed in Thailand, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said. Many are low skilled and engaged in backbreaking work in labour-intensive sectors such as agriculture, fisheries and construction. Many also left their homeland because of the harsh economic and political conditions there under military rule that lasted some 50 years.
The Thai business community has raised its concern that the unprecedented changes in Myanmar, which is emerging from military rule and modernising and opening up its backward economy, would damage Thai industries such as fisheries and construction that rely heavily on Burmese migrant workers.
The survey, conducted by IOM Thailand and the Asian Research Center for Migration (ARCM) at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, is the first to produce a broad understanding of the situation and views of Burmese migrants in Thailand, and the results were announced on Wednesday at an annual conference at Chulalongkorn University to mark International Migrants Day, Dec. 18. The survey was based on interviews with 5,027 migrants in seven provinces.
Almost 80 percent of respondents said they would like to return home while 82 percent said they were influenced by the changes in Myanmar.
Contrary to Thai employers’ concern about an immediate outflow of Burmese migrants, almost half of those who said they want to return home have no timeframe for their departure. Only 14 percent were looking to return within the next two years.
FLEEING VIOLENCE AND CONFLICT
Migrants who have been in Thailand for a long time and have legal options to remain are less likely to opt to return home, as are those who enjoy satisfactory working conditions including better incomes, the IOM said.
The survey covered migrant workers from all parts of Myanmar but the two largest groups are from Mon (26.7 percent) and Shan (19 percent) states which border Thailand, said IOM Resettlement Officer Michiko Ito.
On International Migrants Day the Mekong Migration Network Calls for Urgent Action To Protect Asylum Seekers
The Mekong Migration Network (MMN) strongly condemns the abusive treatment of the Rohingya in Myanmar and in Thailand. Members of MMN who represent civil society groups working on labour, women and migration issues in all of the countries of the Mekong subregion, are shocked by the treatment of the Rohingya people.
The Rohingya have suffered racial violence and lack of protection in their homes in Myanmar and when they have fled, they have not been able to access any international procedures to asylum. According to a Special Report by the news agency Reuters entitled “Thailand’s Clandestine Rohingya Policy Uncovered”, there exists a secret policy to “remove Rohingya refugees from Thailand’s immigration detention centers and deliver them to human traffickers waiting at sea.” The Rohingya are then reportedly transported across southern Thailand and held hostage in a series of jungle camps hidden close to the border with Malaysia until relatives pay thousands of dollars as ransom for their release. The humanity of the local Thai people who have provided help to those who managed to escape from the camps stands in stark contrast to the inexcusable neglect by Thai authorities and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Following the release of the Reuters report, the United Nations and the United States have called for the Thai government to conduct a serious and transparent investigation into this matter.
The MMN has investigated Thailand’s use of arrest, detention and deportation in controlling migrant populations from Myanmar, Cambodia and Lao PDR for over 9 years and has continuously expressed concern regarding the lack of transparency and monitoring of the procedures and the mistreatment of migrants during these procedures.1
The MMN thus calls for the following urgent actions:
1. The Royal Thai Government should immediately and permanently close these secret camps and together with civil society groups arrange for the safe shelter of those currently held in the camps.
2. Consultations must be held to offer long term solutions for citizenship and livelihoods. In doing so, we urge authorities to consult with a cross section of Rohyinga representatives to ensure any action taken reflects the needs of the affected communities.
3. The Royal Thai Government in coordination with the UN should conduct a thorough and independent investigation into the alleged secret operation of refugee camps in the jungles and the practice of law enforcement officers colluding with smugglers.
4. The UNHCR should work with the Thai authorities to firstly protect all asylum seekers and secondly to screen all persons of concern for their eligibility for refugee status.
5. ASEAN Inter governmental Commission for Human Rights (AICHR) should independently investigate all cases of racial and ethnic abuse in all countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
6. The Governments of ASEAN should develop clear guidelines and procedures, in line with international standards, for the treatment of asylum seekers, stateless people, refugees and migrants.
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