Reuters-Bosses protest repatriation

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Subject: Reuters-Bosses protest repatriation of Myanmar workers 

Bosses protest repatriation of Myanmar workers
07:00 a.m. Nov 10, 1999 Eastern
By Sutin Wannabovorn

MAE SOT, Thailand, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Some 500 employers rallied in this
Thai border town on Wednesday to protest against the repatriation of their
workers to Myanmar.

Thailand, whose relations with its neighbour have been strained since a
siege of Yangon's embassy in Bangkok in early October, restarted a programme
to repatriate more than 600,000 illegal workers to Myanmar last week.

The workers are employed mainly in low-paid jobs in the farming and fishery
industries on the long common border. About 70,000 have jobs in this town
opposite eastern Myanmar's Karen State.

Employers' representative Paniti Tangpanit, chairman of the Mae Sot Chamber
of Commerce, said businesses in the town faced ruin without them.

``As you are all aware, ninety percent of the factories here rely on Myanmar
workers,'' he told the gathering. ``Without them we would face bankruptcy
and non-performing loans at the banks will rise further.''

Chaiwut Pakawat, a member of parliament for the ruling Democrat party,
persuaded the protesters to disperse when he said the authorities would
consider allowing 30,000 agricultural workers to stay.

However, he said those in the textile, garment, canning and furniture
industries would have to go back.

Immigration officials and the interior minister said the repatriation drive
would continue regardless of the protest.

EMPLOYERS COULD FACE LEGAL ACTION

``Employers who want to continue exploiting cheap labour have the right to
protest,'' Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart told reporters in Bangkok.
``But those who continue sheltering or hiring illegal workers will face
legal action.''

Immigration officials estimated that more than 12,000 workers have been sent
back across the border in the past week.

``Today about 400 were sent back via Mae Sot,'' one said.

But many have not gone far. Large numbers could be seen camped under plastic
sheets or in bushes on the far side of the Moei River that marks the
borderline in this town.

On Tuesday, police accused employers of illegal Myanmar workers of spreading
false rumours about the fate of deportees, including killings and rapes, to
stop their repatriation.

Myanmar's military government has called the reports in Thai newspapers
``appalling fabrications.''

The repatriations follow Myanmar's closure of the border with Thailand when
five armed Myanmar dissidents seized Yangon's Bangkok embassy in October and
held 89 hostages for 25 hours.

Thailand ended the siege peacefully but angered Myanmar by allowing the
attackers free passage to the frontier, which has stayed closed to trade.

Thai officials have said many of those sent back across the border have
crossed back to Thailand but reject reports they had become victims of
Myanmar soldiers.

Thailand, hit by economic crisis for the past two years, used to host about
one million Myanmar workers until late last year when it repatriated about
300,000.