The looming prospect of massive deportations

Even if the answer is "yes," the messy situation of underground migrant labour will not get much better. But if the answer is a dreaded "no," the mess will get messier.

I'm talking about the government's pending decision whether or not to extend the deadline for the new national measure to regulate millions of migrant workers from neighbouring countries.

The government announced last year that it would stop the year-by-year registration of migrant workers from Laos, Cambodia and Burma in the hope of ending illegal entries through the porous borders.

In substitution, the government would require them to have their nationalities verified and passports issued by their countries of origin as a precondition for their application for work permits.

If they cannot meet the nationality verification deadline, they will be arrested and deported on sight.

The government has given only a one-year window for millions of migrant workers to meet this demand. That deadline is now knocking on our door.

Before us is the prospect of a mass deportation of more than two million people.

According to Andy Hall, director of the Migrant Justice Programme, some 70,000 migrant workers face mass deportation when their work permits expire on Jan 21, which is only a week away.

For the rest, which is approximately 930,000 registered workers, their fateful day is Feb 28.

There were 1,174,716 registered migrant workers in Thailand in 2009, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

Since 80% of these workers are from Burma, success in nationality verification depends on Burma.

But over the past year, Burma has been able to process only 5-6,000 applications!

This snail's speed performance ridden with red tape and corruption is not the only obstacle. Laos and Cambodia have agreed to send their officials to verify their people's nationality in Thailand to speed things up. Burma has refused to do so, insisting that the workers must travel to Burma themselves or process the matter through brokers.

Although the fee has been reduced to 500 baht, the workers still have to pay an exorbitant amount of money under the table to ensure an official "okay". Fraud abounds, however, and many have lost their hard-earned money to fake brokers.

Fear of persecution is also why many have chosen to stay away from the nationality verification process.

A large number of migrant workers are ethnic people such as the Mon, the Karen, and the Shan, who fled the Burmese junta's violent oppression. They fear that they and their families back home will face punishment and extortion should they report themselves.

Admitting deadline defeat, the Alien Workers Management Committee has asked for cabinet approval to extend the nationality verification deadline for another two years. The government's still mum about this.

But will its approval help much to end the underground labour problems?

Given Burma's present work speed, the extra two years will enable only 12,000 from about one million Burmese migrant workers to be eligible for legal work permits.

Should we laugh or cry about this?

Even if miracles occur to clear the glitches, there are still more than one million people left underground, vulnerable to all kinds of exploitation.

Lack of money, information, and fear of persecution aside, they simply cannot see much benefit from being legal.

The new regulation will allow them to work lawfully for two years, with a possible renewal of the work permits for another two years. But there is no guarantee that their slave-like work conditions will improve, or that their papers are not confiscated by the employers, which leaves them as vulnerable to police extortion as ever.

As long as state atrocity in Burma continues, its people will risk lives to live and work across the border. And as long as the Burmese system is in a shambles while the Thai authorities refuse to heed migrant workers' concerns, the little people will be the ultimate losers from failure of state policy.And it is the mafia in the human trafficking and fake passport rackets as well as corrupt elements in the Thai police who will definitely be the ultimate winners.