Thailand and Burma agree on register cross-border Migrants

Systematic labour migration and cross-border registration of migrant workers should be practised and made a national agenda to solve the long-standing illegal migration and illegal employment problems, a Bangkok seminar on the subject was told yesterday.

Labour migration between Thailand and neighbouring countries, especially Burma, should be made a long-term policy - a process that would involve registration in all countries using mutual database and sharing common interests, said Bill Salter, director of a regional International Labour Organization (ILO) office.

He said the Thai government and the Thai Labour Ministry needed to talk with the Burmese government about setting up an independent office based in Thailand to identify migrant Burmese workers working here.

Labour Minister Phaithoon Kaeothong said the Burmese government promised to him that it was willing to grant Burmese citizenship to all workers born on Burmese soil, except Rohingya people and members anti-Rangoon minority groups.

Registration facilities for Burmese people could possibly be opened in Thailand in areas where travels were time-consuming and costly, he said. "A confirmation on the idea on cross-border registration from the Burmese government is pending," he added.

Tomoo Hozumi, a United Nations local official in Thailand, said labour migration was helpful in attributing to Thailand's economy, as Thailand's own workforce was entering retirement age and migrant labourers could contribute to low-skill positions in Thailand.

He said Thailand's policy to send back unregistered Burmese workers to their country was not a right thing to deal with the problem. "There are now one million registered Burmese workers in Thailand while the total number of them reach two to three million," he said.

The UN has supported the Thai government in establishing cross-border registration of migrant workers, both in case of Thailand with Burma and other countries including Laos and Cambodia.