Reuters : Thailand to deport more f

[hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Thailand to deport more foreign illegal workers 
04:27 a.m. Jul 15, 1998 Eastern 

BANGKOK, July 15 (Reuters) - Thailand, which has repatriated over 270,000
illegal workers in the past six months, said on Wednesday it had targeted
another 500,000 workers for deportation. 

But it would relax its rules for 95,000 illegal workers engaged in the key
fisheries, rice mill, sugar cane, livestock and main transportation
industries, a senior minister said. 

``Some 500,000 more workers are still working illegally and we want them
all out,'' said deputy premier, Bhichai Rattakul, after chairing a meeting
of a committee to solve the illegal workers problem. 

Premier Chuan Leekpai's government has set a target to repatriate about one
million illegal workers, mostly from Myanmar, in order to create jobs for
unemployed Thai workers hit by the economic crisis. 

Some of the other illegal workers come from Cambodia, Laos and Bangladesh. 

But Bhichai said the 95,000 workers who had received a reprieve would be
allowed to work in Thailand for one year. 

``Those workers will have to be properly registered with the authorities
for a one-year relaxation,'' he told reporters. 

Hundreds of rice mills, harbouring some 20,000 illegal workers, had shut
their mills last week in protest against the government's crackdown on
illegal workers. 

They resumed operations after the government agreed to relax rules for them
and other key industries.