Migrant worker

A Karen migrant worker died after falling from the sixth floor of Chiang Mai construction site on Monday, September 16. The dead worker was identified as 20-year-old, Saw Ye Tun Naing, who came to work in Chaing Mai from the Delta region of Burma. Saw Than Hlaing , a fellow migrant worker, told Karen News that Saw Ye Tun Naing…

Labour rights groups, including the Migrant Worker Rights Network, Thai Labour Solidarity Committee, Human Rights and Development Foundation and State Enterprise Workers’ Relations Confederation of Thailand, have together expressed concern over a lack of clarity in Burma and Thailand’s migration policy as the two countries latest National Verification (NV) policy initiative expires. The NV process, despite being plagued by exorbitant…

Following a series of attacks on Burmese migrant workers in Malaysia that have so far resulted in six deaths and 20 people injured, an spokesperson from Air Bagan said the airline will offer free flights to Burmese migrant workers in Malaysia who want to return home. The Air Bagan spokesperson told Karen News that they would also organize domestic flights…

A Burmese migrant labour activist organization had been awarded the International Labour Rights Award for its contribution to the labour rights movement and exposing work-related rights violations. The International Labour Rights Forum (ILRF) jointly honoured the Burmese Migrant Workers Network (MWRN), based in Bangkok, and Thailand’s State Enterprises Workers’ Relations Confederation (SERC) for their “groundbreaking” efforts. In a statement released…

Burmese migrant workers from a garment factory in the Thai border town of Mae Sot were threatened and then sacked by their employer earlier this week over a salary dispute. The 18 migrant workers were working at the ‘Two Dragons’ [as known among Burmese migrant worker] garment factory in Mae Sot, Tak Province and were sacked on March 10 by…

A school bus with dozens of Burmese migrant children was involved in a collision with a truck. A three-month old baby was killed in the incident and 30 people taken to local hospitals. A media statement from the non-government organization Help Without Frontiers, claimed the bus was “hit from behind by a speeding truck as the school bus was on…

Migrant workers from the SD Fashion Company [also known by its former name “Champion”] in Kham Piban, in Mae Sot negotiated with their employer at the Labor Protection and Welfare Department, the Ministry of Thai Labor an agreement for safer working conditions. The workers’ leader, Ko Zaw Lay, at the SD Fashion garment factory, said that workers who used to…

Victims of the fire that destroyed 24 rooms at the T.K.Lay CMC wool factory in Mae Sot, Thailand received a helping hand from migrant workers and local organisations after their living quarters were destroyed in the blaze. The Mae Sot based organization, Joint Action Committee for Burma Affairs (JACBA), donated 15,000 Bahts to 24 households affected by the fire at…

The Thai government is refusing to extend its deadline for migrant workers to complete the Nationality Verification (NV) process needed to work in Thailand legally from December 14th 2012. The Thai government has said it will deport those migrant workers who failed to register in time. The Thai Labour Minister, Padermchai Sasomsap, was quoted in The Bangkok Post as saying…

Migrant workers from Burma sit on benches in and outside an labor ‘agents’ office on a small dusty road in the back blocks of the Thai border town of Mae Sot. Tiredness is etched on the workers faces as they wait for their names to be called out. Conversations overlap – delays in getting a temporary passport and the various…