A collaboration between The Nation and Eleven Media gives some insight
into the lives of migrant workers from Myanmar living in Mahachai, an
industrial area that has offered young people from the neighbouring country
both hope and pain.
Smiles are generally subdued
here, with the wholehearted ones coming mostly from the kids. People are not
eager to talk to strangers, for good reason. In their faces, there is always a
mixture of optimism - things can't get any worse here than they are back home -
and anxiety, bordering on resignation.
After Myanmar opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi's visit to Thailand, Mahachai, unofficially known as
"Little Myanmar", has gone back to playing its familiar rhythms. It
is located southwest of Bangkok and crowded with migrant workers from Myanmar.
They are working at seafood
factories and employed by Thai employers, for minimum wages of 200 baht (US$6)
per day. Accord-ing to a memorandum of understanding between the Myanmar
government and the Thai Labour Depart-ment, Myanmar workers are now able to
hold documents and labour cards to work in Thailand legally.
During her visit, Suu Kyi called
for better protection of migrant labourers from her homeland. Their community
has been growing, and, as things stand, there is plenty of room for social
welfare and legal improvements. Like other places crowded with Myanmar people
coming to seek a better life, Mahachai needs to strike a proper balance of
humanitarianism and maintaining good legal order.
Some workers still don't have
identification verification. Many of them have been living here for some time
already, some even managing to run small businesses like restaurants,
bookstores, photo galleries, clothing stores and hair salons. Although they own
small businesses, they still live in fear.
The area is officially under the
control of the Thai police department. Migrant workers have to pay a fee to
Thai police officers monthly to avoid arrest. Police officers usually charge
800 baht ($25) per month for a shop owner who does not have any verification on
hand.
A migrant worker can get arrested
easily by police who make up stories about their illegal activities. When that
happens, a price must be negotiated between the worker and police. The price
could be anywhere between 4,500 and 25,000 baht ($142 to $790) . Commonly
trumped-up charges by police include the playing of illegal three-digit
lotteries and drug-related offences.
For factory workers, there is no
regular schedule. They have to work early or late depending on how much work
there is. Occasionally, Thai gangsters prey upon the workers. The robbers know
that Myanmar workers are reluctant to report crimes to police, as they are
migrants.
"Of course gangsters like to
rob migrant workers rather than Thais. Myanmar workers are not filing a report
to police since they are scared of getting arrested. I even got robbed once
when I was a factory worker. It was late at night after my shift; I was riding
my bike home.
Two motorcycles passed by me and
blocked the street. There were three guys on each motor cycle. One of the guys
pointed a gun at me and spoke in Thai. I was shocked for a moment and realised
that I was being robbed," said Kyaw Zaw Lin of the Human Rights and
Development Foundation.
"A couples of months ago,
four migrant workers were raped by bogus police officers. Two workers were able
to run away as soon as they found out the police officers were pretending. The
girls were 'checked' for identification and verification purposes. Lacking
verification, they were taken to a place where they were raped," said a
staff member at the foundation.
"So many rape victims are
here in Mahachai among the Myanmar workers. Most rapists are Thai. Many women
have been violated, even housewives. We are so afraid to live alone at home
while everyone is going to work. Usually, rapists knock on the door and ask for
something. They know when the victim is alone in the house," said migrant
Ma Mo Mi.
Being murdered is another fear of
migrant workers, though it is not that common. However, it has occurred in the
area, often in connection with robberies or rapes.
"People have been robbed,
raped and killed. You name it; we have all crimes around here. Crimes happen
very often," said another migrant worker. "I have a 5-year-old boy. I
sent him back to Myanmar to study.I can provide anything for his education by
working at a factory. I just want my child to be educated one day and have a
professional life. This is all I hope for. And one day I hope I can go back to
my country and live peacefully," said migrant Ko Khin Maung.
Mahachai is a place where migrant
workers with no education can get a job and live. Now, Myanmar workers wish
their children to be educated, but their children are not allowed to study in
Thai state schools.
There are small community schools
sponsored by NGOs. However, at the high school level, students will not get a
certificate or a diploma. This makes it very hard to enter community colleges
or universities. Fear and hope exist side by side for migrant workers.
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