Drop in Visits to Border Clinic Following Rumors of Crackdown on Burmese Migrants by Authorities on Both Sides of the Border

The Mae Tao Clinic on the Thai Burma that provides free healthcare to migrant workers and people from Burma, claims it seen a fall in the number of patients because of a lack in freedom of travel since the Thai military coup of May 22.

The head of the in-patients registration department, Ko Aung Myo, said the average rate of the arrival from inside Burma and from Thai-Burma border based migrant workers coming in to receive treatment was about 350 people for the whole of last week, while in normal circumstances the clinic would expect to see more than that figure arrive daily.

Speaking to Karen News, Ko Aung Myo said.

“There were many arrivals especially on the Monday, Wednesday and Saturday before. Now, we don’t have as many arrivals. Normally we would expect to see as many as 500 people arrive daily, but we only had around 350 people all of last week. I think this is because they [patients] are facing difficulties in getting here.”

Sources said rumors of a crackdown by police and authorities on both sides of the border had made many people reconsider traveling. Staff at MTC said the recent heavy rainfall had also affected the travel plans of people on the Burma side of the border.

General Prayuth Chan-ocha, the head of Thailand’s National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), was reported to have said on his weekly television show that migrant workers needed to be regulated to prevent exploitation by employers and traffickers. After a month of taking power away from politicians, General Prayuth Chan-ocha approval rating, as deduced by a number of public polls, has soared for his perceived crackdown on crime and corruption.

People from all over Burma and Burmese migrant workers in Thailand receive free treatment at the clinic – on any given day there are ethnic Karen, Mon, Kachin, Shan, Karenni and Burman patients including from major cities such as Yangon and Mandalay, and small remote villages.

Local sources told Karen News that people were still coming to the Thai side of the border through the informal boat crossings along the riverbanks, but were doing so with considerable difficulty.

One patient from Pago division in Burma who was seeking treatment at MTC for an eye problem spoke to Karen News.

“I came here through the boat checkpoint. We could not travel as smoothly as before. I still have no idea what the traveling situation will be when I have to go back after I have finished the medical check for my eye.”

In recent weeks rumors circulated throughout Thailand claiming that Thai authorities were targeting migrants, as a result tens of thousands of Cambodian migrant workers fled back to their homeland.

Thailand’s National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) was reported as demoting two senior Labour Ministry officials. The Bangkok Post said that the NCPO had explained that transfers of the two officials were “aimed at boosting efficiency in regulating foreign labour and solving foreign labour problems.”

The Bangkok Post cited a source in the Thai Ministry of Labour who claimed that ‘irregularities’ within departments charged with the process of getting foreign workers documents had resulted in department officials sending complaints to the NCPO requesting an investigation.

The MTC medical staff expressed concern for the health of patients who felt unsafe to visit the clinic because they were not documented.

Mae Tao Clinic was set-up in 1989 following the crackdown in Burma against pro-democracy groups. It received 148,561 visits in 2012. MTC’s latest annual report estimated that 45% of all cases treated in 2012 were patients who crossed the border from Burma.