Migrant workers from Burma are still detained in an Australian refugee camp, after making a failed attempt to enter Australia illegally last March. Migrant works chose to make the journey after being promised a better livelihood then in Malaysia or Thailand.

In March 2009, brokers in Thailand and Malaysia convinced a group of 130 migrant workers to travel to Australia to find work. The 130 individuals who migrated from locations all over Burma are reported to have been hoping to find better pay and opportunities to resettle.

The trip from Burma to Australia is unusual in that most migrant laborers from Burma either find work in Thailand or in Malaysia.  However in this case, sources close to victims report that brokers had convinced them that Australia was the best option for improving their livelihoods.

Specifically, migrant workers cited several arguments given to them by brokers as reasons to make the illegal crossing. They claimed that since Australian dollar has greater value then either the Thai baht or the Malaysian ringgit, the migrants base salaries would be greater in Australia, and that the Malaysian authorities would likely arrest them if they worked there illegally. Many workers were even told by their brokers that they would personally ask for permission that migrants be allowed to work in the country.

The 130 migrant workers sent to Australia included Mon, Karen, Tavoy and Burmese people. Besides men, the group included an unconfirmed number of women, children and even monks, according to U Kyaw Kyaw, chairman of the National League for Democracy Liberated Area: Malaysia (NLDLA Malaysia). The NLDLA Malaysia often works on rights issues of Burmese migrant laborers in Malaysia.

“The main ways [for illegal travel] are from Thailand and Malaysia,” explained U Kyaw Kyaw. “[The group] was [composed of] 70 migrants form Thailand and over 60 persons from Malaysia. They [Thailand and Malaysia groups] broke into three groups, one going from Indonesia and East Timor, one from the Philippines and another from Malacca, Malaysia.”

After having made the multi leg journey to Thailand or Malaysia, migrants are brought to one of the three above-mentioned locations and sent to Australia by boat. Migrants who make this journey face traveling to Australia by boat, 1,220 miles from Indonesia, 7,775 miles from Malaysia, or 3,748 miles from the Philippines.

U Kyaw Kyaw continued, saying of the group, “They didn’t arrive at Australia because [they had] trouble half-way through their journey. They are at [a detention center on] … Christmas Island [off of Australia].”

The problem for these migrants now, is that after being detained they have no way of moving forward. Often having spent the vast majority of their savings to make the trip, migrants can find themselves thousands of miles from home, with no resources to travel further.

Fees for passage to Australia were significant. Migrant workers who traveled from Malaysia paid brokers from 6,000 RM to 10,000 RM ($1,758 - $2,930), while migrant workers who left from Thailand paid 30,000 baht to 50,000 baht ($822 - $1,471) per person.

According to U Kyaw Kyaw, the migrant workers were picked up without money and without support. “The brokers just put the workers into a boat and never went with them. So, all of the workers have no more money – [They] can’t come back [and] can’t go [forward].”

Workers departing from Malaysia were sent by fishing boats, while those sent from Philippines went by pleasure boat, according to a migrant source.

“This group is held at refugee campsand they have support from UN. [However] they have no independence on this island, and went to come back but can’t because they don’t have the money to return,” said U Kyaw Kyaw.

Australia maintains a particularly hard stance on illegal immigration.  As reported by the New York Times in November 2009, the government maintains a policy of ‘excision’ under which migrants brought to Christmas Island are denied access the to the mainland’s refugee review system.

A migrant worker from Malaysia commented, “If they [migrants] go illegally… they send the workers by boat. So, it is very hazardous for workers; but now [people rarely] are going because they don’t allow the illegal workers from the abroad – it is Australia’s policy.”

Burma produces a significant number of migrant works every year. Migrants often report leaving their homes and villages due to lack of financial opportunities caused by years of economic mismanagement by Burma’s ruling Junta and human rights abuses committed against ethnic minority communities.

“The Burmese government agreed to the COMMIT Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation Against Trafficking in Persons in the Greater Mekong Sub-region, but [it seems like] that just gives them license to do trafficking legally.”

The Burmese government is one of the 6 signers on the COMMIT Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation Against Trafficking in Persons in the Greater Mekong Sub-region in October 29th, 2004. But because the MUC is not a law, implementation of its goals is not legally binding.