Sold to the Sea: Human Trafficking in Thailand’s Fishing Industry

Human trafficking is a global problem. It is estimated that as many as 27 million men, women and children are currently victims of human trafficking around the world.

Thailand is the 32nd largest economy in the world, with a GDP of $377 billion and a growth rate of 5.5 per cent in 2012.2/3 It also has one of the lowest unemployment rates globally, at 0.5 per cent in December 2012.

Thailand’s economy is heavily reliant on labour-intensive industries. However, growing economic prosperity since the late 1980s has seen a decline in the available Thai workforce needed to meet the labour demand.5 In 2009, Thailand’s Ministry of Labour estimated that an additional 116,000 workers would be needed to address the labour-market imbalance […]

AIPMC Calls on Thai Authorities to Protect Basic Rights of Migrant Workers and Rohingya Asylum Seekers

The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus today called on the Thai government to postpone a December 14 deadline for unregistered migrant workers to enrol with the authorities, and also urged the authorities to investigate claims of state officers’ involvement in human trafficking of desperate Rohingya refugees seeking to get to Malaysia […]

Thailand: Don’t Deport Pregnant Migrant Workers

Thailand’s government should scrap the labor minister’s proposed regulation to deport migrant workers who become pregnant, Human Rights Watch said today. The proposal discriminates against women workers and would not advance the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s stated aim of reducing human trafficking […]

Migrants Forced to Stay on the Border

Employers in Tak have managed to persuade the authorities to slap travel restrictions on all migrants registered to work in five border provinces. Even migrants who are holding Temporary Passports which should allow migrants to travel freely throughout the country are now facing restrictions […]

ASEAN Must Move Swiftly to Implement a Framework Instrument on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers

The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) today called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to ensure it works swiftly to implement a legally binding ASEAN Framework Instrument on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers. It also called on the governments of Thailand and Myanmar to improve coordination with each other and civil society organisations to ensure the effective implementation of the 2008 Anti-Trafficking Law and to ensure legal mechanisms are drafted and implemented to ensure the rights of migrant workers are protected […]

The Death of Two Burmese Migrants in the Custody of the Thai Authorities Must be Probed

On 17 April, while the people of Thailand were enjoying the long holidays for the New Year and Songkran water festival, two Burmese migrants were found dead in the back of a deportation vehicle. Mr Maungg Soe (25), and Ms Ma Mi Lar (36) were two of 62 migrants […]

Unending Brutal crackdown on Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrant

The brutal crackdown on refugees, asylum seekers and migrants has been on the rise and unending. The Home Ministry recently had announced the extension to register under the 6P to 10 April 2012, despite that refugees […]

ASEAN Must Address Issue of Rights Abuses and Lack of Protections of Migrant Workers

The ASEAN Inter-parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) today called on ASEAN and its member governments, as well as international organisations, to take urgent and concrete measures to ensure the protection and rights of migrant workers across the region […]

Forgotten Workforce

Burma’s continuing political repression and economic deterioration, coupled with China’s rapid growth, have caused a new phenomenon over the past few years: large-scale northward migration from Burma to China […]

BWU’s New Report “Forgotten Workforce” Exposes Hardship of Burmese Migrant Women in China’s Border Boom Town

A new report by local researchers exposes how increasing numbers of Burmese women are toiling to support the booming economy of China’s border town of Ruili under exploitative conditions and no legal protection […]