First it was the COVID-19 pandemic. Now it is the aftermath of Myanmar coup. For the hundreds of thousands of Myanmar migrants trying to find work and make a living in Thailand, the hurdles are sizeable.
For years, millions of Myanmar citizens have sought work abroad due to poverty in the Golden Land, particularly in the rural areas and the urban slums, symptoms of a poorly developed economy.
But today the situation is particularly difficult due to COVID-19 restrictions and the economic repercussions of the February 2021 military coup that has seen a serious slump in business and employment in Myanmar.
Thus, the number of Myanmar migrants entering Thailand illegally for work opportunities has grown larger.
Yet, largely due to the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand, there are nowhere near the number of job opportunities in the kingdom.
The Thai authorities are particularly vigilant at the moment. Just over the last few days the Thai authorities have arrested about 760 people trying to sneak into the country.
The General manager of Aid Alliance Committee (AAC) Ko Ye Min told Mizzima that the number of people being arrested during this short period is a new record.
These Myanmar citizens usually cross the border illegally at into Kanchanaburi, Mae Sot, Tak District or Chiang Mai. From the start of the year - in just 18 days - more than 2,000 illegal Myanmar people were arrested.
The Thai border guard force, army and police have tightened security along the border and people arrested are being charged under the Covid emergency law and for entering Thailand illegally.
The Thai authorities announced that more than 40,000 illegal Myanmar workers have been arrested since the military coup almost a year ago. AAC’s Ko Ye Min commented that now, there are almost 4 million Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand and among them hundreds of thousands are unemployed.
The number of unemployed Myanmar workers in Thailand is growing because the demand for workers in the job sectors allowed for Myanmar workers is few and far between. Even though all the available jobs have been filled, more people are coming in searching for work. Thus, most are working in whatever job they can find.
On January 18, there was a rush by migrant workers to a factory in Maha Chai, Thailand, prompted by false information. The story was that the factory needed workers and more than 300 Myanmar workers lined up in front of the factory during the night hoping to get a job offer.
People helping with workers’ rights said that it is difficult to protect the workers from right abuses when most are taking up whatever jobs they can find under illegal circumstances.
Added to the current problem, the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok has not joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and it working for the military junta. The embassy is uncooperative and there is no more transparency when it comes to helping the workers. It was not like this when the embassy was working for the elected government.
“Before, with a MOU between the two countries, 80,000 to 100,000 workers were going to be taken for jobs in Thailand. However, because there is no such demand for workers right now in Thailand, the plan could not be implemented,” Ko Ye Min said.
“Right now, though there is no legal way open for more workers to enter into Thailand, brokers (smugglers) are tricking people that there is a way with the MOU agreement. Before, about 300 people were victims of such fraud in Myawaddy. People are being tricked, losing money and even getting arrested even though they have spent so much money just to get a job. This is happening because of the current situation in Myanmar. It is important to not become a victim,” Ko Ye Min told Mizzima.
On January 19, in Yangon, brokers were gathering around 200 people to be smuggled out of the country for work. Most people are from villages. They were stopped just in time but the brokers have not been arrested, according to the Myanmar Oversea Employment Agencies Group.
The announcement also mentioned that some people willingly accepted to be smuggled illegally just because they cannot find a job in Myanmar and they want to work overseas.
Legal overseas employment agencies that used to send workers to Thailand and Malaysia have shut down to a combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and the disruptive aftermath of the military coup.
For those on the bottom rung of society in the Golden Land, opportunities in the Land of Smiles are small.
