Update on Myanmar workers in Jordan

Eleven News has an update of the recent labour conflict involving Myanmar migrant workers employed at a garment factory in Jordan. 

Over 900 Myanmar workers will remain in Jordan and continue with their employment in spite of fact that most desire to return to their home... Many are facing all sorts of difficulties... Among the 1,300 workers, over 200 workers have already come back. The rest are staying at Jordan because of various reasons.  “Some had to mortgage their houses and lands when they went to Jordan and now they have been still in debt so they couldn’t go back to Myanmar. Some are staying there as their contract is nearly complete and so they don’t want to pay compensation to the company. They hope that some officials from Myanmar come there and help them,” ... Myanmar workers working at Century Garment Apparel protest started when diarrhea broke out after eating the meals the employer has given to them.  They have demanded for raising salary up to US $ 200, to end racial discrimination and to provide healthy food that is suitable with Myanmar people. Their protest started from February 14 to March 25 peacefully but the factory owner didn’t agree with them... There are a total of 3,200 Myanmar workers working in six garment factories in Jordan.

Passports, brokers and extortion

Trustlaw has an excellent article on the problems with Thailand's current passport and work permit registration process:

...a broker who offered to get her Burmese passport and Thai work permit for a 12,000 baht ($409) fee - more than a month’s wage and three times the cost if she were to do it herself. “I asked why it was so expensive, and the broker said, ‘There are lots of others involved. I only get a share’, ... In an effort to legalise its migrant labourers, Thailand in 2009 set up a National Verification (NV) registration process, but over the years, the convoluted paperwork required spawned an exploitative industry of middlemen who cut through the red tape - at an exorbitant cost... “There’s corruption from brokers and government officials… And there’s no transparency to the process.” ... workers like Aye are being squeezed for the little money they earn by brokers who collude with government officials and employers... The current registration process was established after a previous one ended in December. It was supposed to be more transparent following activists’ complaints of corruption and overcharging during the earlier process... Yet things remained the same. It is almost impossible for a migrant worker to get the paperwork without brokers, who push up the prices. “Every time the government announces a deadline and say (the workers) will be deported if they don’t register by then, it’s an opportunity for brokers to exploit the workers.

Police extortion of Myanmar migrants in Mae Sot

Police in Mae Sot, Thailand have been extorting 1,000 baht per person from Myanmar migrants returning home for the April 2013 water festival, The Irrawaddy reports here and here.

News summary: January - March 2013

Due to a near three month lapse in posting, the following are some articles from January to March 2013 dealing with Myanmar workers in Myanmar or abroad.

Bangkok Post: Thailand to deport 400 Rohingya migrants after raid

The Bangkok Post reports:

Around 400 Rohingya migrants discovered in a raid on a camp hidden in a remote rubber plantation in southern Thailand will be deported back to Myanmar, Thai police said on Friday.

AsiaOne: Thousands of Myanmar workers trapped in border town

AsiaOne News reports: 

MYAWADY, Myanmar - Thousands of Myanmar migrant workers are trapped and living in miserable conditions in Myawady, Myanmar's border town with Thailand, sources said.

They said these workers were recruited by illegal job agencies and have no proper work visas. There are more than 40 legal job agencies operating in Myawady but the illegal ones reportedly recruit workers from across Myanmar, according to an official from a newly opened agency in the border town.

DVB: Burmese migrants lose jobs after Thai wage hike

DVB reports on recent claims that factories in Tak Province recently closed down due to the increase in the minimum wage.  What would be helpful to know is if these factories were actually paying the legal minimum wage previously, which I doubt.  Since so few factories in Mae Sot pay the minimum wage anyways, it's not clear why the recent increase would make much difference to employers.  

Thousands of Burmese migrants face unemployment after new minimum wage requirements imposed by the Thai government earlier this month forced several factories and workshops to close down.

Many businesses, who employ cheap labour from neighbouring Burma, Cambodia and Laos, cannot afford to pay their workers the 300 Baht (USD$10) daily wage required by law since 1 January.

According to Thai media, dozens of factories have been closed, including some eight garments, electronics and ceramic producers based in Tak province near the Burmese border. Thousands of jobs are estimated to have been lost.