A large number of legal migrant workers in Thailand who are about to complete four-year employment contracts are opting to go through a fresh nationality verification process alongside illegal migrants to extend their employment, even though the practice could cost them their social security benefits, reports the Bangkok Post.
A large percentage of the 3 million migrant workers in Thailand come from Myanmar and many work in the fishing and seafood packing industries, as well as on a myriad construction sites around the country.
According to one business operator, more than 100 of his migrant workers, who will complete their four year-employment contracts next month, want to join the 1.2 million illegal migrant workers who havebeen allowed to register for temporary permits since June, under a National Council for Peace and Order government directive. The deadline for registration is Friday, the newspaper reports.
Another group of migrant workers whose employment contracts end early next year has urged him to take them along to be registered too. Both groups are migrant workers allowed to work here legally after Thailand signed memorandum of understanding or MoU agreements with neighbouring countries in 2010.
“These workers are willing to lose their social security benefits, such as free medical checks and related expenses, if they register again,” said the employer. They are willing to do this because under the MoUs, they are required to return to their home countries after having worked in Thailand for a maximum of four years. They must then wait at least three years before reapplying to work in Thailandagain, he said.
The Migrant Worker Rights Network that works to protect the rights and working conditions of Myanmar workers in Thailand has expressed concern over how the new paperwork procedure has negatively affected Myanmar migrant workers. They have expressed fears workers will dump their current passports and paperwork and try to register under new, false names. The new red tape, they claim, offers brokers new opportunities to earn income through facilitating the new permits.
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