Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The Thai Labour and Human Rights Groups have submitted a petition to the United Nations Special Rapporteur Jorge A. Bustamante demanding an urgent investigation of the ‘Nationality Verification of Burmese Migrants’ in the Kingdom.
The State Enterprise Workers Relations Confederation (SERC), the Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF) and the Thai Labour Solidarity Committee (TLSC) on Wednesday submitted the petition to Bustamante calling for an urgent inquiry into the commencement of a nationality verification process for Burmese migrants.
The groups in their petition, submitted through Mr. Homayoun Alizadeh, Regional Representative at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Regional Office for Asia-Pacific, Bangkok, said they are concerned over the confused and complicated process, which involves migrants having to pay ‘unreasonably high costs’ saying it could lead them to become victims of human traffickers.
“In the past weeks, the nationality verification process has begun. Tour buses carrying migrants to border processing centres are leaving main migrant population centres in Thailand and migrants are then crossing borders to Burma and returning at varying costs with temporary Burmese passports and visas,” the group noted in a press statement.
“The only information publicly disseminated is from the Burmese government about the processes on its side of the border. However, private brokers are springing up and providing answers and services at ‘unreasonably high costs’,” the group said.
While this information has been spreading among migrants, the Thai Government has not yet conducted any public relations campaigns with migrants, NGOs or labour organisations.
Sawit Keawan, General Secretary of the SERC, said, “We are increasingly concerned as a result of these developments. We fear for the safety of Burmese migrants in Thailand and are disturbed at what appears to be another wave of exploitation affecting them.”
“Nationality verification, which we view as a positive yet sensitive issue, is beginning at unreasonable costs to migrants, and just weeks after a previous registration period ended and migrants endured high costs related to this,” he added.
Gothom Arya, President of HRDF, said the group will call on the UN Special Rapporteur on the ‘Rights of Migrants’ to urgently set up an inquiry into the commencement of this nationality verification process.
“We will also send a set of recommendations to the Thai government, including a request that the Thai government should continue to strongly urge the Burmese government that the process take place here in Thailand. This will reduce the unreasonable costs being borne by migrants, speed up the process, and importantly increase the safety of migrants whilst reducing unnecessary use of exploitative brokers,” he added.
The majority of migrant workers in Thailand are from Burma.
In 2004, the Thai Government and the Burmese military junta signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide nationality verification for these migrants so they could become legal.
However, the process was stalled as the Burmese junta insisted nationality verification take place in Burma in three major border towns. The Thai government then announced that all registered Burmese migrants must undertake nationality verification before February 2010.
