Chiang Mai raids on migrant workers

Chiang Mai raids on migrant workers

CHIANG MAI - A total of 104 undocumented workers were briefly detained before being released and would be pushed back to Myanmar, according to provincial immigration police.

Illegal workers detained in Chiang Mai before being released. (Photo by Cheewin Sattha)

Acting under the authority of martial law, police apprehended immigrant workers found roaming in Atsadang Road in Muang district, which is an unofficial waiting area for workers looking for a job, an official said.

Police have warned migrant workers not to gather in the area again awaiting potential employment. Atsadang Road has become a portal for immigrant workers over the past two decades. Its growing recognition has exacerbated social problems including drug abuse and human trafficking.

The police would expand the operation to cover another 95 communities in Chiang Mai where illegal workers are suspected to live, the official said.

According to a report in Thairath, many undocumented Myanmar workers have been scared off by the crackdown by Thai authorities acting on the instructions of the junta, as have Cambodian workers in the east, and have crossed back over the border via Mae Sot checkpoint in Tak province to Myawaddy in Myanmar.

The 4th Infantry Regiment Taskforce is working with Tak immigration police in raidson undocumented Myanmar workers in Mae Sot. Illegal workers in the construction industry had fled home over the past week.

Col Terdsak Ngam-sanong, the taskforce commander, said  authorities would not harass worlers  with legal documents.

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