Foreign labourers' wages docked to fund expulsions

Foreign labourers will have their wages docked next year as part of a Labour Ministry policy to force them to contribute to the cost of sending illegal foreign workers back to their home countries.

Department of Employment deputy chief Prawit Kiangpol said yesterday deductions from the wages of legally registered labourers would go into a central fund which would start work on Dec 27.

Foreign labourers who renew their work permits will have their monthly wages docked for six months starting from Jan 1 next year.

The amount will vary depending on which country they come from.

Burmese and Lao people are required to pay contributions of 400 baht a month while Cambodians will pay 350 baht a month.

Workers who fail to pay will be fined 2% of their contributions plus what they owe, Mr Prawit said. Registered workers could claim their money back when they return home, he said.

The department said there were 250,000 registered foreign workers in employment as of June. Another 930,000 are thought to have entered Thailand illegally.

Immigration police and soldiers arrested 336,888 illegal foreign workers last year and the department sent 250,000 of them back to their home countries.

Meanwhile, employers are backing Labour Minister Chalermchai Sri-on's call for a new round of foreign worker registrations early next year.

Only workers who have registered their names once and have not renewed their work permits will be asked to take part.

One employer said the legalisation of foreign workers was expensive and ineffective.

He said workers who were given only a copy, not the original, of the registration document could still be arrested and fined by police.

Some employers give their foreign workers cards that could spare them from arrest, he said. The card shows officers the employers have paid kickbacks to police so their illegal workers would be spared any legal comeback.