Relatives of the 54 Burmese workers who suffocated to death last year in the back of a container truck received compensation from an insurance company in Ranong today. The exchange was monitored by authorities from the Thai and Burmese governments, as well as representatives of the Federated Trade Unions – Burma (FTUB), World Vision, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and other non-government organizations (NGOs)
The payments began this morning at a “Safety House” arranged by IOM and World Vision, a source in the FTUB told IMNA. According to the source, 41 family members were present though 46 family members had been contacted.
After receiving checks for 35,000 baht ($992.51 USD) from the Thai Liberty Insurance Company, the workers then attempted to cash them at a Thai bank. According to the FTUB source, 9 family members were unable to exchange the checks for cash because they had insufficient documentation.
Following the trip to the bank, Burmese police and immigration authorities escorted the family members back to Burma. According to a source at another NGO involved in the affair, Burmese authorities had arranged for the family members to pass through immigration checkpoints into Thailand, and had helped arranged their lodging at the police station and World Vision office across the border in Kawthaung, Tenasserim Division.
The involvement of officials from Thailand and Burma as well as a variety of NGOs is explained by the international profile had by the initial incident. A major media outcry followed the death of the 54 migrants, who suffocated as they attempted to secretly travel to Phuket, Thailand, where they hoped to find work. According to one NGO source involved in the incident, the families would never be receiving compensation had the incident not drawn such attention.
It is unclear, however, what will happen to the family members now that they have returned to Burma with the substantial sums of money. Whether they will be taxed by Burmese authorities – whom watchdog group Transparency International lists as the second most corrupt in the world – remains to be seen.
According to a source in a Lamine Sub Township, some family members worried that they would be harassed and extorted by Burmese officials following their payment. This fear, said the source, explains why 5 relatives failed to show up for the exchange though they had been notified they were eligible for substantial compensation.
