Verification deadline poses risk to migrants, says HRW

The deadline on Saturday for migrant workers to begin their nationality verification will only exacerbate the risk of further abuses against them, Human Rights Watch warns.

HRW Thailand representative Sunai Phasuk yesterday said the deadline for all migrants to begin the national verification process or face arrest and deportation posed an imminent threat to workers who have contributed much to the Thai economy.

The cabinet passed a resolution in January allowing a two-year extension of work permits for more than one million migrants provided they were willing to submit personal information to their home governments.

The workers are required to register to begin the nationality verification process before Feb 28. Anyone who failed to apply for nationality verification would be sent back to their countries.

But they must pay high costs for nationality verification, usually two or three times their monthly salary.

Mr Sunai was speaking at the launch of the HRW's 124-page report, "From the Tiger to the Crocodile: Abuse of Migrant Workers in Thailand".

The report, based on 82 interviews with migrants from Burma, Cambodia and Laos, released yesterday, describes widespread severe human rights abuses faced by migrant workers in Thailand.

Phil Robertson, HRW deputy director for Asia, said the deadline should be postponed and incentives for migrants to register themselves in the process should be introduced.

"More importantly, Thailand has to address impunity honestly," Mr Robertson said. "Justice must be served for all and the law must be enforced against corrupt civil servants and police, unscrupulous employers and violent thugs."

Bill Salter, director of the International Labour Organisation's East Asia office, said the government should be more flexible in its policy of requiring alien workers to apply for nationality verification.

Speaking at an ILO seminar in Bangkok yesterday, Mr Salter said if the verification process remained rigid, only one million Burmese migrant workers would have their nationality verified and be issued with work permits.

The other 2 million to 3 million illegal Burmese workers would face deportation.

The Employment Department's Office of Foreign Workers Administration Department says more than 400,000 Burmese workers have applied for nationality verification. About 60,000 were successful.

The Foreign Ministry defended the national verification scheme, saying the process would give migrant labour legal status which would provide them with more access to better protection.