Coronavirus (Covid-19)

Migrant worker exodus prompts fears of labour shortages

Published

Wednesday, June 10, 2020 16:35

FILE PHOTO: Myanmar Times

The director-general of Thailand’s labour department has met with Myanmar’s Ambassador Myo Myint Than to discuss how Thailand can manage the country’s migrant workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. The government wants Burmese migrant workers to stay in Thailand rather than return to their homeland during the crisis.

Suchart Phonchaiwisetkun explained that many workers have demanded to be allowed to continue working in Thailand, and letting them return to Myanmar would not only risk spreading the virus but also cost money to transport them. let alone the loss in income.

He told the ambassador that allowing them to stay in Thailand, “would alleviate Thai businesses’ worries of a labour shortage.”

“Myanmar officials agreed to the preliminary principles, and want relevant agencies in Thailand and Myanmar to meet in a video conference. The Thai government is ready to support and facilitate Myanmar labourers who want to be hired.”

Around 1,500 migrant workers per day are reportedly shuffling back across the border, as Thai businesses remain shut down amid the virus crisis.

SOURCE: Nation Thailand

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Jack Burton

Jack Burton is an American writer, broadcaster, linguist and journalist who has lived in Asia since 1987. A native of the state of Georgia, he attended the The University of Georgia's Henry Grady School of Journalism, which hands out journalism's prestigious Peabody Awards. His works have appeared in The China Post, The South China Morning Post, The International Herald Tribune and many magazines throughout Asia and the world. He is fluent in Mandarin and has appeared on television and radio for decades in Taiwan, Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

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