An Open Letter on “MWG’s recommendations regrinding the government’s solutions to solve issues of migrant workers whose employments have reached four years”
An Open Letter
27 February 2014
Subject: The Migrant Working Group’s recommendations regrinding the government’s solutions to solve issues of migrant workers whose
employments have reached four years
ATT: The Caretaker Prime Minister
CC: 1. Minister of Labour
2. Director General of Department of Employment
3. Secretary General of National Security Council
4. Commissioner-General of Royal Thai Police
5. Commissioner of Immigration Bureau
6. Chairperson of Law Reform Commission
7. Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission
With reference to the Department of Employment’s letter no. R-NG 0307/4936, 11 February 2014
Dear Sir,
As per the Department of Employment’s urgent letter no. R-NG 0307/4936 dated 11 February 2014, regarding the treatment of migrant workers from Myanmar who have completed their nationality verification and whose employments in Thailand have reached four years, and the letter contained the instructions and was addressed to Governors of all provinces and Directors of all Bureaus of Employments in Bangkok and Regions 1-10;
The Migrant Working Group is pleased with the determination of the Department of Employment and the Ministry of Labour to manage the issues concerning migrant workers of three nationalities, particularly previous success in the legalization of migrant workers. Nevertheless, given the political turbulence which has protracted since October 2013, the management of migrant labour has faced delays, particularly regarding migrant workers who have been granted the temporary right to work and whose employments in Thailand have reached four years this year. In light of the situation, MWG would like to recommend to you that it is very urgent and important that comprehensive solutions to the issues of migrant workers whose employments have reached four years be meted out in the manner that;
1) The measures can help to efficiently address shortage of labour, particularly in migrant labour intensive sectors including marine fishery and downstream industries and construction which employ a massive number of migrant workers and whose employments in Thailand will mostly have reached four years this year. A shortage of labour supply in these sectors, due to a lack of replacement, will definitely and unavoidably affect Thailand’s macro economy.
2) The measures should essentially ensure continuity and clarity of the policy and management of migrant workers in compliance with the previous government’s effort to tackle the issues of illegal migrant workers and to legalize migrant workers from neighboring countries.
To ensure that the solutions to the migrant workers whose employments in Thailand have reached four years this year respond to the existing problems and situations, MWG would like to propose the following recommendations for your consideration as well as other concerned agencies in order to revise properly the existing policy as follows;
1. The caretaker cabinet should issue a resolution to endorse the provisional permission for the migrant workers to continue to stay in the Kingdom beyond the existing term and that they are able to leave the Kingdom later without having to face any arrest. It should help to ensure efficient management of the legal migrant workers. The provisional permission to extend their stay in the Kingdom can be designated to any particular duration, i.e., three to six months, being effective from the day the resolution is made.
2. The government should consider invoking Article 54 of the Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (1979) in order to give permission to the migrant workers to extend their stay in the Kingdom while their stay in Thailand will be subjected to conditions as stated in (1).
3. The government should seek to consult with the governments of sending countries to review the existing Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) regarding the legal importation of migrant workers given the political transition periods of the two countries including;
3.1 Consultation should be made on the issuance of provisional passports by the sending countries to ease the importation of migrant workers and to mitigate any impacts whereby the passports should be valid at least two years. And while the migrant workers are in Thailand, they shall be obliged to apply for their normal passports at the One Stop Service Center at the border as per the MoUs on labour importation in order to shorten the time of application and/or;
3.2 The Embassies of the sending countries in Thailand should be asked to issue a Certificate of Identification (CI) to each of the workers whose employments in Thailand have reached four years and the workers are obliged to make their travel to the border in order to avoid the arrest. MWG urges the Thai government to carry out a proactive strategy and to help point out to the governments of neighboring countries regarding the pros and cons of each of the recommendations. Any action taken should be done so to primarily serve the best interest of the employers, employees and governments of both countries.
The Network fervently hopes that you and your administration shall consider the recommendations and comprehensively deliberate both the positive and negative impacts of each of the recommendations as the recommendations by the Network are geared toward ensuring the continuity and maximum efficiency of the migrant worker importation policy.
Thank you very much.
Yours sincerely,
Preeda Thongchumnum
Labour Rights Coordinator, Migrant Working Group
For more information, please contact Ms. Preeda Thongchumnum, phone 089 459 0212