Laws: July, 2003 - Number #16

Thailand. Thailand in May 2003 announced that agreements had been reached with Laos and Cambodia to mange labor migration, and in June 2003 reached a tentative guest-worker agreement with Burma that should allow Burmese workers to be employed up to four years in Thailand. Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said that the goal of the agreements "is to create jobs and revenue for people in neighboring countries, rather than allowing millions of illegal migrants to seek jobs here. Relocation to low-cost neighbors of some sectors which Thailand cannot sustain because of its rising costs is part of the plan. We will produce and share benefits as partners."

Thailand granted 409,339 work permits to foreign workers in 2003, but there are believed to be an additional 500,000 to 600,000 unregistered foreign workers. In September 2003, there is to be a new foreign worker quota announced, with ceilings on the number of migrants allowed in particular occupations. However, many experts say that, unless the Thai government cracks down on smugglers as well as the police and customs agents who are now bribed to allow smugglers to operate, the Thai government will continue to have little influence on the number and employment of foreign migrants.

Thailand's National Security Council in April 2003 said that the 120,000 children in the country born to migrants were a potential security threat. Chaipak Siriwat said that, since they had no papers, they could form a new minority group and be hard to trace. Chaipak said that the Thai government was actively trying to remove unauthorized foreign workers, and to import fewer legal guest workers under the new bilateral guest-worker agreements.

The MAP Foundation, a migrant advocacy group, asserted that many registered migrants are not paid the minimum wages they are due. In Tak province, workers are to be paid at least 133 baht for an eight-hour day. However, a group of 120 garment workers were paid only 77 baht for a 15-hour day, and went on strike to call attention to their case. Under Thai law, registered migrants must prove their employer violated labor laws and find a new Thai employer within a week to remain in Thailand. In this case, the employer was ordered to pay back wages, but did not. Instead, the workers were detained and slated for deportation because they did not find a new employer within a week.

Philippines. Major labor exporting countries in southeast Asia sent fewer migrants abroad in 2003 because of SARS. The Philippine Overseas Employment Agency noted that, in May 2003, many Gulf countries temporarily halted the entry of Filipino migrants after the World Health Organization included the Philippines on a list of countries with SARS cases.

During the SARS crisis, Filipino nurses overseas were praised for helping Singapore and China cope, but the exit of 14,000 Filipino nurses in 2001 for 31 countries was "no longer brain drain, but more appropriately, brain hemorrhage," according to Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan, vice chancellor for research at the University of the Philippines in Manila.

Tan said that there were 6,500 to 7,000 nursing graduates a year, and two to three times that many overseas departures- he believes government data underreport the emigration of nurses. Nursing salaries in the Philippines range from $95 a month in rural areas to $170 a month in cities, compared to $2,000 to $3,000 a month abroad. Some Filipino doctors who earn $300 to $800 a month are reportedly enrolling in nursing schools so they can emigrate.

In New York, Filipino-born nurse Lamberto Figueras was named outstanding nurse for 2003.

The Philippines is often called the world's largest organized exporter of human labor; about 10 percent of the 80 million residents are abroad, temporarily or permanently. Since dictator Ferdinand Marcos was brought down in 1986, the number of OFW's (overseas Filipino workers) has increased.

Indonesia. Indonesia began charging $40 for 30-day visas that are issued on arrival to international visitors as a "revenue source." Indonesians are finding it harder to leave the country since, for instance, the US began to charge $100 to apply for a visa, and Indonesia charges a $110 airport departure tax.

The government launched a major military offensive against separatist guerillas in May 2003 in Aceh province. It includes new ID cards for the 4.2 million Aceh residents, an effort to isolate Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatists.

Patricia Adversario, "Nurses' Exodus Making Health System Sick," IPS, May 15, 2003. Supalak Ganjanakhundee, "Thailand, neighbors agree on jobs strategy," Nation, May 1, 2003. Onnucha Hutasing and Supamart Kasem, "Illegal aliens sue for unpaid wages," Bangkok Post, April 26, 2003. Sanitsuda Ekachai, "Didn't we free the slaves long ago?," Bangkok Post, April 24, 2003. Supamart Kasem, "Agency says offspring of immigrants pose threat," Bangkok Post, April 18, 2003.