News roundup (Nov - Dec 2013)

Round-up of news on Myanmar workers from November - December 2013.

Fraud, corruption, extortion

• "Scam agents leave foreign workers in the lurch", New Straits Times, 11 Nov  2013

Registration, passports, work permits

• "Migrants Left in Limbo After Burma Postpones Temporary Passports", The Irrawaddy, 12 Nov 2013
• "Flawed National Registration Process – Migrant Workers Open to Exploitation", Karen News, 13 Nov 2013
• "More than 30,000 Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand overstay visas", Eleven Media, 19 Nov 2013
• "Myanmar to issue red passports to migrant workers in Thailand", Eleven Media, 24 Nov 2013
• "Service centres for Myanmar migrant workers to open in border areas", Eleven Media, 4 Dec 2013
• "One-stop services for Myanmar workers in Thailand postponed", Eleven Media, 19 Dec 2013
• "Myanmar workers in Thailand to be granted special exemption", Xinhua, 22 Dec 2013

General migrant rights advocacy

• "MWRN asks authorities to protect Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand", Eleven Media, 13 Nov 2013
• "Migrant rights group slams policy failings", Myanmar Times, 18 Nov 2013 
• "Migrants Find Life In Thailand Is Hard Work", BNI, 29 Nov 2013
• "It is estimated that in some villages in Karen State, that as many as 80% of young and middle-aged men and women have left." 
• "In Thailand, a Tough Life for Burma’s Male Sex Workers", The Irrawaddy, 13 Dec 2013

Other

• "Implementation of Myawaddy industrial zone 40% complete", Eleven Media, 14 Dec 2013
• "Myanmar workers want to go home, survey finds", Bangkok Post, 18 Dec 2013
• "Most Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand would like to return home, and the country could face a shortage of over five million workers as a result by 2025, according to survey results released on Wednesday. The International Organisation of Migration (IOM) interviewed over 5,000 Myanmar workers in seven provinces that employ the largest numbers of migrants, with 80% expressing a desire to return home – and 41% of these would do so within the next five years... Myanmar nationals currently represent the largest group of migrant workers in Thailand, comprising around two-thirds of the country's 3.5 million migrant worker population. The comprehensive report concludes that Thailand, which is heavily dependent on migrant workers, could face a labour shortage of more than five million in the next 12 years."
• "Most Burmese migrants want to go home, says IOM", DVB, 19 Dec 2013
• "Myanmar to build more industrial zones," Eleven Media, 28 Dec 2013
•  "Burmese Maids Prepare for Work in Hong Kong", The Irrawaddy, 24 Dec 2013
• "Low wages cause labour disputes, says labour union", Eleven Media, 25 Dec 2013