Migration Issues Don't End Here; They're Global

Issues related to migration extend beyond the United States to a myriad of other places including the Great Mekong Region of Southeast Asia. Regarding the global nature of the issues in 2010 an International Labour Organization (ILO) study estimated that 214 million migrants were crossing national borders throughout the world. They accounted for three percent of global population; half of them were women; they often were accompanied by children and/or spouses; and while ninety percent of all migration was work-related the remaining ten percent included retirees who were relocating, students who were studying abroad, tourists, asylum seekers, refugees and victims of human trafficking. Between 2005 and 2010 I had opportunities to witness a microcosm of the human side of global migration while teaching and living in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Migrants from Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia crossed the Thai border to begin a struggle to achieve a better life.

The ILO took note of migrants’ struggles and on their behalf it outlined a Rights Based approach to migration policies which ideally could provide a foundation for destination countries to treat people moving from origin countries. The Organization outlined the approach and based it on two significant points. The first point is that cross border work-based migration is an important contributor to creating and sustaining economic growth and material prosperity in both migration destination and origin countries. Benefits to destination countries are derived from the employment of foreign workers whose skills, attributes and energies are essential contributors to production processes, output and income generation and economic well-being. Those accruing to origin countries come about when financial remittances are made by their citizens who currently work abroad and then return home with on-the-job skills gained by working abroad. Second, in order to sustain migration-based prosperity public policies and programs in destination countries should focus on an approach to migration that protects and benefits foreign workers. Basic Rights include assuring that migrant workers receive fair wages, guaranteeing that they have safe and healthy workplace conditions and insisting that they be treated humanely and with respect socially, economically and under civil law.

Workers migrate into Thailand for a variety of reasons. Often it’s a matter of long established family tradition or even a new search for adventure but for the most part people cross borders in order to take advantage of economic opportunities. They
are mechanics and carpenters in agriculture, mining, construction, street and sidewalk sweeping, bartenders and waitresses in tourism and leisure industries, domestic service workers and “providers” in sexual services industries.

Very few are skilled professionals who are employed as teachers, doctors, dentists and nurses and accountants. For some migration is permanent, for others it’s a temporary move, some are legal and documented while others travel and work without proper documentation. Most cross borders voluntarily but the region is also plagued by some human trafficking. Traffickers either abduct people physically (mainly women) or they the employ devious tactics that rely on deception, trickery and even threats to the health and safety of migrant workers and/or their families including children or they engage in various forms of forced labor.

An estimated forty-five percent of this legal migrant community is female and this raises gender specific problems arising from difficulties that women face when enrolling their children in school, accessing essential health services and arranging for adequate housing. Legal migrants generally face an array of other difficulties and challenges: for example, even legal workers are not given the full protection of labor laws including health and safety protection and access to fair and decent wages. They usually are excluded from unionized activities. This means that they have virtually no right to organize. While migrants usually receive decent treatment from local populations at times they are subjected to verbal and scorn—and not only do adults face obstacles but all too often their children experience ridicule and are ostracized at school.

Migrants continue to pursue a legal environment wherein ideally their rights are protected. In Thailand as elsewhere their pursuit is hampered by their lack of familiarity with local customs, practices and language. Coupled with their limited political power, this means that they need allies that will assist them in their interactions with Thai governmental authorities.

While living in Northern Thailand I came in contact with two non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that assisted the migrant worker community. The Mekong Migrant Network (MNN) and the Asian Migrant Center (AMC) are the primary NGOs that continue to assist the community in its interactions with Thai government authorities. The intent of the NGOs is to bring about improvements in labor protection policies and practices that benefit both local and foreign documented workers. Despite past improvements currently many migrant needs, wants and concerns remain unmet and this is why connections with the MMN and AMC were forged and continue to exist. As part of a broader support network migrant causes and concerns continue to be publicized in books published by the Mekong Press. The Press operates as part of the Mekong Press Foundation (MPF) located in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Faculty members from nearby Payap and Chiang Mai universities provide professional and technical support.

The first of three steps that the MMN and AMC undertook was to learn a great deal about the migrant community. For example, they did so in part by interviewing fifteen typical migrants who came from Laos and Myanmar in order to work in various industries throughout Northern Thailand. The interviewees stated that their specific situations were similar to those experienced by members of the broader GMS migrant community. The knowledge gained from the interviews provided the NGOs with the basis for their joint publication titled From Our Eyes. The publication informed the public about the issues that are important to the migrant community including (a) permitting them to register in Thailand independent from employers; (b) obtaining work permit and migrant worker cards; (c) seeing to it that anti-trafficking laws and policies are enforced; (d) protecting labors’ workplace rights; (e) improving access to health care and health insurance; (f) expanding access to education by migrant children; (g) obtaining telephones and using internet facilities; and (h) reducing acts of social stigma and discrimination.

The interviewees went on to explain that they needed to be able to move more freely across borders, pay less for passports and work permits, and be seen and treated as responsible members of society whose children would be welcomed to local schools. They pointed out that they needed assistance in mastering a language that was new and unfamiliar to them. This is important because they expressed a sincere desire to communicate with and be understood by local citizens. In effect, they do not want to be strangers: instead they want to be treated as legal workers who receive market wages, work under safe conditions with the full protection of labor laws and who are recognized for their contributions to the economy and community of which they are a part.15/

Based upon what they learned the second step that the NGOs took was to describe the nature of migrant concerns, needs and wants to the broader public via publications, media comments and public forums. They took a third step when they began to foster, maintain and broaden contacts with appropriate officials and agencies of the Royal Thai Government on behalf of migrants. These contacts helped to prompt government to institute measures that went beyond provisions of the Labour Relations Act of 1975 and Labour Relations Act of 1978. Those two acts were important because their contents assured that all workers would be entitled to protections under the law. While they provided a foundation for the treatment of all, a number of specific migrant worker concerns remained unmet and full compliance with the goals of the ILO remained out of reach. A specific example is the legal system that specifies that union officials must be Thai nationals thereby excluding migrants from forming a union in which key members would assume official responsibilities. As well a migrant could not become an official in an already organized labor union. This means that while a migrant can take a complaint to court, he/she must do so without direct legal representation from organized labor thereby pitting the individual migrant whose power is limited against entrenched local employers whose interests are protected by government authorities.

From the migrant workers’ perspective a third step needed to be taken. While the Royal Thai government continued to move in the direction of a Rights Based approach via its 1975 and 1978 Acts that sought to satisfy some of the migrant community’s concerns they weren’t enough! Consequently efforts by the migrant community and its supporters interacted with government and this culminated in the enactment of the Immigration Act of 2009. The 2009 Act clarified the rights that migrants have to enter the Kingdom, to work within it, to exercise workplace rights and to live and stay in the Kingdom under humane conditions. It also specified the conditions under which a migrant could be arrested, detained and deported. The Act is the latest step that the government has taken in its incremental movement towards more fully conforming to a rights based approach to immigration policies and practices. To its credit the policy of the Royal Thai government is also to eliminate forced labor within the Kingdom. This is an important point because as the International Labor Office noted in 2012 an estimated 21 million people (including children) worldwide were victims of forced labor.

A potential lesson that can be drawn from the Greater Mekong Subregion (composed of Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia). It’s this: in the future mutually advantageous policies and practices are both desirable and feasible here’s why: there are significant “mutual coincidences of wants” that interlink stakeholder interests. The key is for all parties to recognize that there’s is a strong “coincidence of wants” between employers who needt migrant workers’ skills and attributes andmigrants who want employment and income- earning opportunities. Another is a “coincidence” in what destination-country authorities see; that is, a connection between (a) national growth and the contribution made by cross border workers and (b) themigrants who make those contributions and who want to be recognized, appreciated and rewarded. In a broad context it’s a win-win situation: importantly there are no external actors who have a reason to distort these fundamental coincidences. Clearly for their part the NGOs want only to be part of negotiations that resolve conflicts in ways that are consistent with the Rights Based approach to migration policies—not only in Thailand but beyond!

Bob Curry
Email Bob