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January 16, 1998:ILLEGAL LABOUR



January 16, 1998
ILLEGAL LABOUR


              300,000 to be 
              repatriated

                Move to create job vacancies for 
              Thais



              Atotal of 300,000 illegal foreign workers will be repatriated 
              within six months, says Labour and Social Welfare Minister 
              Trairong Suwannakhiri.

              He said the action would start within the next two weeks and 
              agencies would give Thais those jobs made vacant.

              The Foreign Ministry will be responsible for the repatriation 
              while police and soldiers would make the arrests.

              Illegal workers would be sent to repatriation centres in Chiang 
              Rai, Tak, Kanchanaburi and Ranong before being deported.

              Mr Trairong said he would make sure human rights and 
              international laws were not violated.

              He said he was thinking about allowing illegal workers to work in 
              border provinces near Laos, Burma and Cambodia but they 
              would not be allowed to stay overnight in Thailand.

              National security chiefs have also agreed unanimously to plans to 
              deport nearly two million illegal alien workers to free up jobs for 
              recession-hit Thais.

              Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Chettha Thanajaro yesterday 
              said representatives from concerned agencies attending a recent 
              meeting with the National Security Council have agreed to the 
              proposed deportation of alien workers, mostly from Burma, 
              Cambodia and Laos.

              The Interior Ministry and police authorities have been told to 
              crack down on illegal workers and deport them.

              As for the army, it will put its troops on full alert along its borders 
              to stop foreigners from illegally entering the country, said the 
              army chief.

              He said the presence of illegal workers posed a threat to national 
              security.

              Thousands of Thais are already jobless and more than two 
              million are expected to be out of work by the end of the year.

              The NSC decision will be submitted to Prime Minister Chuan 
              Leekpai on Monday for a final decision on whether to expel the 
              workers.

              Hundreds of thousands of workers from poorer countries in the 
              region flooded into Thailand during the boom years of the 1980s 
              and 90s.

              Commenting on the government's decision to allow the United 
              Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to take charge of 
              refugees living in Thai camps, the army chief said the military had 
              no problem with it. However, he feared the repatriation of 
              refugees, particularly Cambodian villagers who had fled fighting 
              in their country, would be delayed.

              A labour union leader yesterday attacked previous governments 
              for allowing the influx of cheap labour and associated social 
              problems.

              Suvit Hathong, president of the Labour Congress of Thailand, 
              said it had been wrong to allow alien workers to work in fields 
              such as construction, fishing and farming.