When the military junta first announced a policy to clean up the migrant workers’ mess, it certainly did not expect the move to explode so fiercely in its face.
The police — ever ready to show the new boss they are doing their jobs — quickly launched the crackdown, packed them in crammed vehicles, and deported them at various border points.
Stories later spread like wildfire of more raids and use of force. The junta dismissed them as rumours. But news of deaths and injuries of fleeing workers in car accidents while heading to the Cambodian border only fanned more rumours. The result was a sudden exodus that shocked the construction industry and millions of employers who rely on cheap migrant labour.
The crackdown immediately drew attacks from Cambodian human right groups. It has also worsened the country’s image, already tattered by the coup and from the news of slave and child labour in the fishing industry. Boycott threats are in order, both from global retail chains and the US government over the country’s poor anti-human trafficking record. Suddenly, the junta realises it needs to act fast to control the damage.
On Monday, a senior junta member visited migrant worker communities in Samut Sakhon in an effort to calm the panic. No crackdown is in the pipeline, the workers were told; the junta only wants to set up a system to regulate migrant labour. Plans to set up special zones for migrant workers were also floated during the visit.
Then, the National Council for Peace and Order announced a temporary measure on migrant labour to end the exodus. The first order — probably a message directed at the police — is the NCPO’s reiteration that there is no crackdown policy. Next was an order to all employers to send the names of their migrant workers to the NCPO, with a promise to set up a new system that is fair to the workers, and to punish deceitful brokers.
It should be noted that the junta has also made it very clear that Thailand is under international pressure on violations of human rights concerning forced and slave labour. Allegations of such violations are false, it stressed. Reporting on those issues will affect the country's and the junta's reputation, it warned.
Is it safe for me then to speak about what the junta must do if it really wants to establish a fair migrant labour management system?
For starters, the junta must stop viewing migrant workers as national security threats. How could they be if their mass exodus has hurt the economy so seriously that the junta must lure them back?
Stop regarding them as disease carriers. This mentality makes "eradication" a policy solution. It also explains why crackdowns and deportations are the mainstay of state policy. Or why the junta mulls special zones for migrant workers.
See migrant workers as they are — important contributors to the national economy. Without their cheap labour the country’s export industry cannot compete in international markets and domestic goods will become much more expensive.
Next, make the new system serve the workers, not the bureaucrats or brokers. At present, the cumbersome procedures do not allow year-round applications while imposing deportation threats has become a yearly event. This allows deceitful brokers to work with corrupt officials to make money from the workers who want to join the system.
However, after paying a lot of money to get the official documents and health and welfare coverage to become legal workers, they find the system offers them few benefits. The employers still confiscate their legal papers and deduct registration money from their pay. Without the papers, the police continue to extort money from them. Going to hospitals is no help when they are sick because health personnel do not speak their languages. Forget the legal minimum wage though they are legally entitled to it.
If you were in their shoes, would you join a costly system that gives you almost nothing in return?
The junta must also stop punishing the victims. Target the criminals who put Thailand under scrutiny for human rights violations — human traffickers, corrupt officials, abusive employers and exploitative industries.
Most importantly, do not pretend the problems do not exist. This is not only about the junta, but our society which turns a blind eye to their suffering.
If we abhor the inhumanity they face and seriously work to ensure them justice, the world will give us the respect we want. This cannot happen if we refuse to respect migrant workers’ human dignity because they are not “one of us”.
Sanitsuda Ekachai is editorial pages editor, Bangkok Post.