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Human Rights Violations of Migrant Workers In Thailand

A significant number of young foreign migrant workers in Thailand face exploitation ranging from non-payment or low salaries, excessive working hours to even more serious violation of forced labour and trafficking, a study reveals.

"More than half of domestic workers (maids) surveyed and one in five migrant teens on fishing boats were either prohibited from ever leaving their workplace or forced to work as virtual slaves to the Thai employers," said study director Elaine Pearson. She said the in-depth report, believed the first of its kind in Thailand, had uncovered significant human rights violations of young migrants ranging from physical assault, forced labour, denial of freedom of movement, children in hazardous work and verbal abuse.

About 82 per cent of migrant domestic workers and 45 per cent working on fishing boats surveyed said they were required to work more than 12 hours per day and without leave, she added at the launching of the report. The "Mekong Challenge - Underpaid, Overworked and Overlooked: The Realities of Young Migrant Workers in Thailand" was conducted by the Mahidol University's Institute for Population and Social Research and the International Labour Organisation's Mekong Sub-Regional Project to Combat Trafficking in Children and Women.

About 1,000 migrant workers from Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia below the age of 26 working in agriculture, fishing/fish processing and small-scale manufacturing were interviewed in the study. Thailand was chosen as it has emerged as the major country of destination in the cross-border trafficking of women and children in the Mekong region and so far more than one million migrant workers have registered with the Thai government.

The study shows all of these sectors, with the exception of domestic help, rely on cheap labour as competitive edge which is why employing migrant workers is so popular. (Thais will not work for such low wages). Pearson said almost all the workers received wages below the legal minimum wage. For example, more than 40 per cent of domestic workers were paid only Bt1,000 per month or less and nearly nine out of 10 (89 per cent) received Bt3,000 or less.

More than half of the employers surveyed in agriculture, manufacturing and fishing/fish processing were of the view that migrants should not be allowed to leave the premises outside working hours without permission. "I worked for two years but never received any payment. I had to work all day...I couldn't go to bed until 2am, but would have to get up at 5am. My employer also slapped, hit and pinched me," said a 17-year-old female Cambodian domestic worker in the report. A 14-year-old fishing boat worker surveyed said he and his friends had to work all day and night, without time for rest. "Neither of us has been physically beaten, only yelled at. But we are scared because we had seen some crew members thrown off the boat or beaten with hooks and anchors that weighed close to one kilogramme and were as long as our arms," he said.

The study also contradicts a commonly held belief that "recruiters" or job brokers/agents are often traffickers as fewer than 10 per cent of all migrants surveyed claimed to have found a job via recruiters. The report has made 29 recommendations to overcome violations of migrant workers, including improved labour protection, an end to employers withholding workers' legal documents and better enforcement.

Adapted from: "Human Rights Violations Of Migrant Workers In Thailand." Bernama. 13 December 2006.