The report, commissioned by IOM on behalf of the UN Thematic Working Group on International Migration, is the first-ever overview of the complex phenomenon of international migration in Thailand, which sends its own citizens as migrants oversees, even migrant workers flow in from neighboring countries. While Bangkok has moved to regularize the status of some 1.3 million migrant workers living in the country, the government still faces significant challenges, such as how to address the plight of some 135,000 displaced Burmese living in nine "temporary" camps along the border with Myanmar. The camps -- which were closed to new arrivals in 2001, offer basic shelter, food, schooling and healthcare, but residents are not currently permitted to leave the facilities to take up work in Thailand.

The report's recommendations include a call for improved refugee screening procedures on the Myanmar border; a cheaper and simpler way to issue work permits; better information about their rights for migrants and their families; proactive inspections of workplaces by the Thai Ministry of Labour to ensure compliance with labour standards and the enforcement of counter-trafficking legislation; and HIV/AIDS information and prevention programmes targeting mobile and difficult-to-reach migrant populations, including cross-border intervention programmes.

The report was launched at a press conference at 11:00 am 23 August at the FCCT, jointly chaired by UN Resident Coordinator Joana Merlin-Scholtes and IOM Regional Representative Irena Vojackova-Sollorano. Report authors Jerrold W. Huguet and Sureeporn Punpuing summarized their findings and answer questions.

Representatives of the Royal Thai government, UN agencies, diplomatic missions and the media were invited to attend.