The Thai government has just attempted yet another registration round for Burmese migrant workers. Most of the refugees served in the BRP community hold migrant worker visas that cost 3,800 baht a year (approximately $120, quite a hefty sum for day laborers) that tie them to specific occupations (i.e., sharecropping farmer, rock hauler, etc.) AND specific bosses. These bosses hold quite a bit of power over the migrants.
The new Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, has announced a new minimum wage in the country, and it remains unclear how these new wages will affect refugee workers, or even apply to them.
According to the Thailand section of the latest U.S. State Department survey of global trafficking trends, "Observers remained concerned that the process to legalize migrant workers with its associated fees, as well as costs imposed by poorly regulated and unlicensed labor brokers, increased the vulnerability of migrant workers to trafficking and debt bondage."
See the full article here: http://www.worldpress.org/Asia/3796.cfm
We work with Shan refugees in Thailand to build a well-educated, healthy, and economically robust community, and to restore dignity, assert social rights, and help lay the foundations for their participation in a future democratic Burma.
