Immigration Laws: October, 2003 - Number #10

Thailand. Thailand granted 409,339 work permits to foreign workers in 2003, and the Labor Ministry asked that the permits be extended another year before a new guest worker program comes into effect. Under new bilateral MOUs with Burma, Cambodia and Laos, guest workers must obtain medical check ups before they travel to Thailand and must be in Thailand without their families; 1.5 percent of their earnings are to be withheld to finance their return. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said it represented a "new 'labor-order'" campaign for alien workers."

There are about 1.1 million Burmese migrants in Thailand, 88,000 Cambodians, and 110,000 Laotians. There were some 568,249 registered foreign workers in 2001, 409,339 in 2002, and 353,274 at the beginning of 2003. However, the number of registered migrants declined to 110,000 in August-September 2003, perhaps reflecting the fact that migrants, who typically pay the registration fee through payroll deductions, learned that registration does not protect them from extortion from local police because many employers hold worker registration documents. For four months the government failed to issue new cards to replace those expiring in April 2003, leaving workers with no way to prove they were legal.

The Federation of Thai Industries is asking that, under the new guest worker programs, employers should be allowed to deduct from workers' wages the cost of housing and food. Most Thai employers already deduct from workers' wages the cost of registration, baht 4,450 or $107 for a one-year permit, equivalent to three months wages, and some keep the workers' registration cards, which opens the workers to police harassment.

There are reports that many Burmese workers in Thai provinces bordering Burma are being mistreated by employers and local authorities, even if they are registered as required. The Burmese are often paid much less than Thailand's minimum wage of Baht 133 or $3.15 a day- 60 to 80 baht a day is a common wage. When some legally registered migrants complained of underpayment in Mae Sot in Tak province bordering Burma, they were deported. Their employer was ordered to pay 4.6 million baht ($109,500) in back wages, but refused to pay.

Many countries ban imports from Burma, which prompted foreign investors to set up sewing plants in Thailand along the Burmese border. Many of the migrants employed in the sewing shops are ethnic minorities in Burma who have suffered at the hands of the military junta; their vulnerability makes it easier for Thai employers to abuse them.

Migrant advocates say that Thai political leaders who complain that Burmese commit crimes and sell drugs seemingly endorse attacks on migrants. In the Thai border town of Mae Sot, six Burmese migrants on May 14, 2003 were beaten to death with what activists say was the complicity of local security officials. In January 2002, 17 migrants, their hands bound and throats slit, were discovered in a stream near Mae Sot; and migrant advocates complained when Thai police dubbed the murders as the "normal killing" of Burmese workers.

Thailand has an estimated 100,000 prostitutes, many from Burma, and a US financed anti-trafficking police force has prompted criticism by the Shan Women's Action Network (SWAN), which said that many Burmese women voluntarily engaged in prostitution. The US State Department calls trafficking "the emerging human rights issue of the 21st century," but on the ground in Bangkok, people say that "It's hard to figure out who are the victims." Some women have been "rescued" from brothels in Thailand several times, in part because, SWAN says, Burmese soldiers systematically rape ethnic Shan women.

Bangkok is hosting the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation summit October 20-21, 2003, and rounded up Cambodian beggars and removed them before the summit.

Malaysia. In Malaysia, glove manufacturer Super Latex closed in June 2003, eliminating jobs for 478 workers, including 222 foreign workers. In a departure from usual policy, some of the terminated foreign workers were allowed to be hired by other Malaysian companies.

Many migrants are cheated by recruitment agents. For example, a group of Burmese migrants arrived in Malaysia with contracts signed by the workers and the agent promising M$700 ($184) a month, but they received only M$100 ($26); the employer said it was the standard wage after deductions that included M$350 a month to repay the loans they assumed to get the contracts, M$70 for Burmese income tax, and the monthly levy that employers must pay to the Malaysian government to discourage them from hiring foreigners.

The Malaysian Immigration Act was amended in 2002 to provide mandatory jail sentence of up to five years' imprisonment and up to six strokes of the cane for unauthorized foreigners. Malaysia removed 300,000 unauthorized foreigners in 2002, but many returned from Indonesia and the Philippines, especially in eastern Sabah state, prompting another round of enforcement activities.

Philippines. The Citizenship Retention and Re-Acquisition Act of 2003 allows Filipinos to retain or regain their citizenship after naturalizing in another country. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said she would seek a full six-year term in May 2004 elections; she replaced Joseph Estrada, who was forced to resign on January 20, 2001.

The Philippines, a country of 82 million, has a labor force of 33 million, half of whom are wage and salary workers, including two million in the public sector. Unions are fragmented--there are about 8,800 unions and 170 federations of unions. The number of private sector union members exceeds 525,000, reflecting the fact that many Filipinos are employed in very small enterprises with fewer than 10 employees--one estimate is that there are about a million union members among six million "organizable" private sector workers. Lawyers are involved in most labor disputes, and many disputes are litigated rather than settled informally, and most managers tend to assume that unions are militant and must be opposed as vigorously as possible.

About 16 percent of Filipino workers are in manufacturing, the same percentage as in 1980, but the portion employed in agriculture fell from 50 to 40 percent. The expanding service sector is supported by customers who receive remittances, which helps to explain why there are more money-changing offices than bank branches and why shopping malls are full on weekends.

Globalization is increasing connectedness over borders, enlarging markets and increasing competition. In the Philippines, the dominant employer response to increased competition has been the "low-road" approach to hire workers through contractors to save on wages and benefit costs, not the "high-road" approach of investing in workers to increase their productivity.

Vietnam. The Department for the Administration of Foreign-Employed Labor Force says "the more workers we can send abroad the more relief [from unemployment] we will hopefully see." However, many labor recruiters offer Vietnamese false contracts in exchange for $2,000 or more, and send them abroad as tourists. Vietnam had 159 labor-supply firms in 2003, and labor exports rose from 20,000 in 1999 to 50,000 in 2002.

The government hopes to have 500,000 Vietnamese workers overseas by 2005, generating $2 billion in annual remittances, or $4,000 per migrant.

There are about 1.1 million Vietnamese-Americans in the US, and some are retiring to Mexico, where their pension dollars go further; remittances totaled $2 billion in 2002. The Viet Kieu are buying US-style homes in suburbs ringing Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon).

Asean. Ten Southeast Asian nations signed an ambitious accord in October 2003 to establish by 2020 an economic community on European lines with lower tariffs and few travel restrictions. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations includes Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, Vietnam, Brunei, and Myanmar.

Uamdao Koikorn, "River gives terrorist access to Thailand," Associated Press, September 24, 2003. Amy Kazmin, "Burmese workers find life brutal in Thailand," Financial Times, August 4, 2003. "Immigrant Workers: Facts and Figures," Bangkok Post, July 8, 2003. "Curbs loom for migrant workers," Nation, July 22, 2003. Anil Netto, "Burmese Deported After Work Complaints," Inter Press Service, June 11, 2003.