Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday had sharp words for neighbouring
Thailand, criticising the junta-led country for abusing the rights of Cambodian
workers in what he called the largest-ever repatriation effort seen by the
Kingdom.
Speaking at an event in the capital attended by the
Thai ambassador, the premier said it was “a violation” to return more than
250,000 migrant workers this month without prior notification, and appealed to
the junta to release 13 Cambodians arrested for allegedly using fake visas.
“I would like to ask [coup leader] General Prayuth
Chan-ocha to drop all charges against them,” he said, adding that the detained
workers are innocent of any wrongdoing, but are themselves victims of a scam
after they paid for legal visas only to receive fake documents instead.
“The workers cannot read Thai, so they didn’t know if
the visa was fake or not,” he added, ahead of a meeting today between
high-ranking officials from the two governments on the Thai side of the border.
The prime minister had, until yesterday, stayed quiet
regarding the sudden, mass exodus of Cambodian workers from Thailand. He
revealed, however, that he has been communicating with General Prayuth through
letters, and was informed earlier this month that Thailand was enforcing migrant-worker
policies to curb human trafficking, though there was “no intention to use force
or to expel the migrants”.
The premier also tried to lend a positive note to the
situation, calling it an opportunity to turn “illegal status” into more secure
“legal work overseas”.
Last week, the Ministry of Labour and Vocational
Training announced that it would provide workers and students with $4
passports, and also recently banned recruitment agencies from charging workers
any commission fee. The new, yet-to-be-implemented, legalisation process will
cost $49 and involve a two-and-a-half-month waiting period as all documents are
procured.
“It’s a good measure in theory, but it’s not going to
work,” said political analyst Kem Ley. “It doesn’t take into account indirect
costs or opportunity costs, like to travel [to one of two passport offices in
the country] and housing costs while the workers wait, during which they will
be losing income by not working.”
Hun Sen said yesterday that he hopes to resolve such
issues by opening a passport office in every province, though did not elaborate
on how or when that could be accomplished.
The opposition denigrated the government’s efforts
however, faulting the head of state for talking loudly but not talking more
concrete steps to assist the workers, especially the 13 who could face trial in
Thailand.
“By just announcing his position, he’s not actually
doing anything,” opposition lawmaker Son Chhay said yesterday. “As the leader
of the country, the prime minister is responsible for getting [the jailed
workers] home.”
Chhay added that there are “many diplomatic channels
available”, recalling that when Thailand has taken issue with Cambodia in the
past, they closed the border.
Hun Sen showed no interest in retaliating however, and
both countries have maintained they are cooperating over the bilateral issue.
Senior officials from both governments are set to meet today for a press
conference on the Thai side of the Poipet-Aranyaprathet border, and the prime
minister said he expects an envoy from Thailand to visit Phnom Penh on July 1.
Addressing the workers yesterday, Hun Sen told them
that they do not have to go abroad for jobs.
“Although wages here are lower than what you earn in
Thailand, if you compare to fees you spend to get illegally to Thailand, it is
not so much less,” he said, adding that “working in our country is safer”.
On Wednesday, the National Employment Agency put out a
statement advertising 16,146 vacant jobs largely in the garment sector, aiming
to prove the government could in fact employ the recently returned migrant
workers.
“There are probably enough jobs if you include all the
availability in the agriculture and construction sectors,” said Hong Choeun,
director general of the agency.
Choeun also refuted yesterday the workers’ claims that
they make too little in Cambodia to afford to live.
“Not all unskilled Cambodian workers go to Thailand,
so they must earn enough,” he said. “Thailand was like a gold rush of people,
because they heard they could make more money, but now the gold rush is over.”
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