MIgrant workers strike in Chiang Mai

DVB provides a video report about a 30 May 2013 strike involving over 100 Myanmar migrant construction workers in Chiang Mai over their employers violation of their employment contract.  Some photos of the strike are available here.

The Economist: Myanmar's remittances

The Economist reports on remittances from Myanmar migrants:

NO ONE has bothered to count how many people live in Myanmar since 1983 (when it was still Burma). No surprise then that no one has any clear idea how many people left the country during its 50 years under military rule. The men in green certainly did a savage job of mismanaging the economy though, and an untold number of their countrymen fled for want of opportunities at home. In 2009 the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) estimated that 10% of Myanmar’s population, then estimated to be 50m to 55m people, were living abroad.

The IOM’s estimate is roughly in line with a more recent one which suggests that there are between 2m and 4m Burmese workers in Thailand, perhaps another half-million in Malaysia, more than 100,000 in Singapore, a few thousand in Japan and South Korea, and then a totally unknown number in India and China.

New report on trafficking in Thailand's fishing industry

The Environmental Justice Foundation released a new report on 29 May 2013 titled Sold to the Sea about trafficking, exploitation and other abuses against migrants in Thailand's fishing industry.

The report is available here.

Some news accounts of the report are available here, here and here.

IPS: Hard Day’s Work Is Greater Remittance Cost for Burmese

Inter Press Service reports on remittances issues for Myanmar migrants in Thailand (via the Jakarta Globe):

Nangnyi Foung reaches into the dryer, pulls out another pair of pants and places it on the ironing board.

Mizzima: Prisoners of Mae Sot

My op/ed piece on some recent problems with the migrant registration process in Mae Sot is available on Mizzima.

The Irrawaddy: Burmese Migrant Workers’ Group Receives International Award

The Irrawaddy reports:

A Burmese migrant labor activist group has been honored with the International Labor Rights Award for its contribution to the labor rights movement and exposing work-related rights violations.

The International Labor Rights Forum on Wednesday jointly honored the Burmese Migrant Workers Rights Network (MWRN), which is based in Bangkok, and Thailand’s State Enterprises Workers’ Relations Confederation (SERC) for their “groundbreaking” work in defending migrant workers in Thailand.

DVB: Burmese embassy to issue migrant children with passports

DVB reports:

The Burmese embassy in Thailand will begin issuing temporary passports for children of registered migrant workers on Thursday, according to a government spokesperson.