Fishing industry wants illegals

The National Fisheries Association of Thailand (Nfat) wants the government to allow illegal alien workers who are waiting for deportation to fill vacant jobs in the fisheries sector.

"The sector needs 140,000 workers, but it can find only half of them," Nfat board member Mongkhon Sukcharoenthana said yesterday.

He said many fisheries operators had resorted to hiring illegal alien workers in the face of the labour shortage.

Nfat will inform the Labour Ministry of the need for labour in the fisheries sector in order that relevant authorities can provide an adequate quota of alien workers. "Then, there will be no need to hire illegal alien workers," he said.

Employment Department deputy directorgeneral Prawit Kiangphon said the Labour Ministry agreed with the fisheries operators' idea of recruiting alien workers. "We will discuss the details with the Nfat," he said.

Fishing operators have offered to provide employment contracts and to inform the alien workers of living and working conditions in advance, he said, adding that the department planned to inspect fishing trawlers to ensure proper working conditions.

Between June 15 and July 14, employers around the country have registered 984,535 alien workers with the authorities. Of these, 643,095 are Burmese, 238,586 are Cambodians, and 102,854 are Laotians.

Fishing operators have until August 13 to register their alien workers.

Prawit said his department was about to hire a company to collect the biological data of registered alien workers - a job that had to be completed within 120 days.

Three companies have tendered bids for the project and the lowest bidder will be selected.

"The biological data will include their facial pictures and fingerprints," Prawit said.