Jaloon Htaw : Reports of rights gained by migrants who have successfully registered for temporary passports has spurred registration for the temporary passport by Burmese migrant workers, according to migrants and assisting NGOS.
According to Mon migrant worker from an ice factory Maharchai (Samutsakorn), Thailand, migrant workers increasingly believe in the registration process for the temporary passport, after seeing and hearing from others who have already gotten passports and exercised rights guaranteed to them under the Thai/Burma temporary passport system.
“Last time I didn’t believe the Burmese authorities when they said they were making the passport. But now my nephew has actually got a temporary passport,” the migrant worker from ice factory explained, having previously been skeptical of the process. “Everything was ok when he went to do it. So I am interested in doing it. In our factory, we have about 300 people, and they all will register for a passport. Now, in one day, we have about 150 people going to register for a passport in Tachilate.”
Rights guaranteed in the temporary passport allow for unrestricted travel in the kingdom of Thailand, legal status within the eyes of Thai police and immigration authorities, and guaranteed treatment at health care facilities in Thailand.
According to one migrant worker, at a canned fish factory in Maharchai, 10,000 Burmese’s migrant workers have already submitted registration forms for the temporary passport.
“Our factory, named ‘Htein Ni lin’, has about 10,000 Burmese’s migrant workers. Now we have all already applied form. However the [personal information verification] form [sent to Burma] has not yet arrived. Our employer will be responsible for us.”
According to Ko Sein Htay, an officer at the Human Rights Development Foundation (HRDF) in Maharchai, Burmese’s migrant workers who know about others who have already received their temporary passport and can use those new rights, and been interested in applying.
“More migrant workers are applying for the temporary passport than earlier because they have seen migrant workers who have already gotten their passport can go everywhere freely,” Ko Sein Htay explained. “But some are [still] going back to their hometown because they afraid Burmese’s authority will collect money.”
According to a source at the Thai Labor Department in Maharchai, approximately 10,000 applicants have successfully registered for the temporary passport. There is an estimated to 3 million migrant workers currently in Thailand.
The Thai Labor Department worker also stated that now at least half of the Burmese migrant worker population in Thailand has already submitted applications for the temporary passports. He explained, “In Maharchai, now most of migrant workers have applied for the temporary passport.”
In the previous months, migrant workers have been hesitant to register, and in some cases have returned to Burma. A lack of reliable information about the temporary passport application process led to abuses and extortion against migrants, and concerns that the Burmese government would pressure and threaten families back home for (set back home) profits significantly dissuaded migrants from the application process.
However the benefits for those who receive a temporary passport are tangible. A migrant worker from Bangkok who had already received a temporary passport told IMNA, “I can go everywhere and if I have a problem I can get legal help. It is better than having no passport. When I used the old work permit (ID card), I couldn’t go anywhere – just the places [within] the district where I was working.”
Another migrant worker from Bangkok also sited the ability to travel as a reason to register for the passport. With his passport the migrant worker reported that he had already traveled to Sangkhalaburi, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand, without incident.
According to an article in the Bi-Weekly Eleven Journal on January 15th, More than 5 service organizations have sprung up, offering assistance to migrants registering for temporary passports. These organizations advertise themselves as assisting migrants through the registration and application process at a set rate of 4500 baht, covering all transportation, food, registration, and application costs.
For migrant workers unwilling to use a service or a broker, the registration and application process normally costs 600 baht.
Due to the slow pace at which temporary passports have been processed, Migrant and Human rights organizations have been pressuring Thai authorities to extend the deadline for the production of temporary passports for another 2 years, a process that had been set to expire on February 28th, 2010.
Mixed reports from news agencies have both confirmed and denied that the Thai government has agreed to extend the period in which migrant workers can apply for temporary visas.
