Difficulties of migrant domestic workers in Thailand

On the difficulties migrant domestic workers in Thailand face:

...rights groups say female migrant domestic workers [in Thailand] continue to face abuses behind closed doors. For laborers from Myanmar... life without a proper work permit constrains her daily travel. “I never got any days off. If I wanted to go outside, I had to ask permission. Sometimes I needed to go help my relatives who were sick. I asked for time off and they told me I had to finish my work and could only go for one or two hours and had to come back right away,” she said... Isolation and long hours are common obstacles that domestic workers face in finding the time to seek local support networks for help... Migrant aid worker Pim Saenwee [said,] “It’s hard for us to get connected with the domestic workers because they’re kept in private houses. For outsiders like us, it’s hard to get in, and hard for them to get out. In past, many maids are abused with wages and rights abuse and sexual abuse... [ILO] says more than a quarter of women employed in Asia work more than 48 hours a week... “It’s a gender issue that domestic work is not seen as work because it's something that women do and housewives are not paid to do all the work that they do. So then you bring in somebody from outside to do that work and it's still not considered work and still not protected by labor laws,” [said ILO migrant labor expert Jackie Pollock].

"Domestic Workers from Myanmar Overworked in Thailand," VOA, 22 March, 2016

A south-south spatial fix?: Relocating seafood processing from Thailand to Myanmar

The Nation reports:

A 10-rai site in the Dawei Special Economic Zone's initial phase was reserved for about Bt30 million. As soon as VSI Union Thai is registered, an ice plant will be constructed, to be followed by a processing plant whose output will be going to Thailand as well as Italy and Japan. "In five years, more seafood businesses in Thailand will move here as this is home to most of our workers," he said while inspecting his site last week... given the depletion of marine life in Thailand's seas, he continued sourcing seafood from Myeik and Dawei in the past 15 years... The decision was also made at the time when Thailand's seafood industry is facing some non-tariff measures. The EU's tough requirements for Thailand to comply with the illegal, unreported and unregulated rule result in difficulties in sourcing materials, he said. Now, he sees only the bright side. The abundance of seafood and factory hands is one thing. He also expects to gain a lot from investment privileges offered to businesses in special economic zones as well as the European Union's generalised system of preferences (GSP) offered to labour-intensive industries in Myanmar.

"Thai seafood sector sees bright future in Dawei," The Nation, 9 March 2016.

Blaiming migrants in Thailand for crimes, again

Police in Thailand continue to target migrants on grounds of criminal involvement, but without substantiating evidence.  As the Bangkok Post writes:

More than 200 police, soldiers and local officials raided nine locations on Pattaya’s Koh Larn on Friday... The squad searched for narcotics, took DNA samples from migrant workers, recorded their personal information and registered them... Thai law enforcement officials routinely accused migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos of being behind crimes, particularly of tourists. However, on Koh Larn, the most recent violent attack - a rape of a Chinese woman in September - was committed by two Thai speedboat drivers.

"Military, police sweep Koh Larn for drugs, illegal workers," Bangkok Post, 11 March 2016

Backpay win for piece-rate migrant factory workers in Thailand

It is indeed significant that migrant piece-rate workers in Thailand have won a backpay claim. But insofar as these workers were employed within the factory for set hours (e.g. 8:00-5:00), this is not unprecedented. Migrant factory workers similarly on piece-rates in Mae Sot have won such claims before, since they can argue that set hours require minimum wage payment under Thai labour law. Truly significant would be a victory for a backpay claim (or, indeed, any labour rights claim) made by piece-rate workers employed outside the factory and without set hours, such as home-based "putting-out workers" in Mae Sot's garment sector.  As Nyan Lynn Aung at the Myanmar Times reports:

A Thai fisheries factory has further capitulated to the demands of its workers and agreed to equally compensate all labourers in a company-wide settlement – a development rights advocates say is virtually unprecedented. The new terms will extend to 200 mostly Myanmar staffers on a “piecemeal” contract who were initially overlooked. At the end of February, the factory agreed to shell out compensation in a rare victory for migrant workers. The workers had been fighting to end a smattering of abuses at the factory, including overcharging for work documents, unpaid overtime and illegal paycheck deductions. The initial settlement deal involved 48 million baht (US$1.3 million) of backpay, divided between 1750 workers, including over 1400 from Myanmar. However, up to 200 workers paid on an output basis said they were not covered in the settlement. Last week the terms were extended, and the “piecemeal” workers were each given 20,000 baht ($566) in backpay.

"Further win for fisheries workers in Thailand," Myanmar Times, 10 March 2016.

Police brutality against workers under an NLD government

Significantly, patterns of police brutality against workers continue in Myanmar under an NLD government. According to Eleven Media ("Victim of police beating transported to Yangon," 9 March, 2016):

"After everything was settled, policemen came again [to the factory in Dawei on 8 March, 2016] with their station chief around 11pm. Four policemen cocked their firearms and were ordered by a police officer to shoot anyone that entered. They then asked Thet Naung and Aung Phyo Lin to step forward because they had bad attitudes. When Thet Naung stood up, around 10 policemen grabbed him, and Thet Naung resisted. The police beat him, and one policeman struck him on the head with a thick rod from the factory. The doctor has said he has a brain hemorrhage and is not likely to survive. Thet Naung’s family was told that neither a surgery in Dawei Hospital nor the plane ride to Yangon can guarantee his life," said a colleague of Thet Naung who witnessed the incident.

Benefits of protecting migrants overlooked: UN

The Myanmar Times on the UN's 2015 Asia-Pacific Migration report:

"The [UN] research shows that 'it is the prevailing economic and policy context which shapes the impact of migration'. The UN argues the region could and should be doing more to promote a streamlined process ensuring everything from fair recruitment practices, to social protections, fair pay and assimilation. Few of the [Southeast Asia] region’s countries have implemented comprehensive, long-term migration policies, however. In this absence, bilateral agreements reign over the migration process, but often fail to provide adequate protection or oversight. Inevitably, unscrupulous brokers and human trafficking fill the vacuum... Instead of seeing migrants as a national security threat or funnelling labourers to destination countries through short-term arrangements that restrict rights and neglect abuses, the report suggests both countries of origin and destination must put better structures in place."

"Benefits of protecting migrants overlooked: UN," Myanmar Times, 8 March 2016

Myanmar-Bangladesh garment manufactures cooperate

Will Myanmar's garment manufacturing develop in the direction of Bangladesh? (I can't help thinking of Rana Plaza.)

A leader of Myanmar garment producers has invited Bangladesh to work together in fighting global business challenges. "Now there are many challenges in the world. TTP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) is coming. Why don’t we work together? We can fight together for US GSP," Khine Khine Nwe Rosaline, Secretary General of Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association, said in Dhaka...

Currently, the country has around 400 garment factories that employ between 350,000 and 400,000 workers. Bangladesh’s nearly 3,500 factories employ about 4 million workers. Myanmar exports $1.8 billion and has set a $10-billion-mark target for the next 10 years, while Bangladesh eyes doubling current exports to $50 billion by 2020. But neither country enjoys the GSP privilege in the US market...

She said Bangladesh was "so much advanced" in the garment industry that “we want to learn the growth story”. She said six months back they sent a delegation to visit Bangladesh’s factories and learn about business operations. “We’ll send another delegation shortly,” she said.

"Myanmar business leader invites Bangladesh to fight together for US GSP," bdnews24.com, 4 March 2016