3 August
UNSKILLED labour migration from Myanmar to neigh-bouring countries, both legal and “illegal” are reaching high proportions. The large scale migration is cre-ating a shortage of unskilled/semis killed labour in many States and Regions of Myanmar. Beside the population density in these areas will decline in the long run. Estimates are that more than 3 million workers have migrated over the past 3 to 4 decades to neighbouring Thailand alone and that many more are still doing so.
According to a high offi-cial of the Department of La-bour, Myanmar workers who were legally sent under an MoU between Myanmar and Thailand by (106) Authorized Licensed Agencies from June 2010 to May 2019 was around 70,000. The Nationality Veri-fication Process for issuing of temporary passports to “irreg-ular” Myanmar workers who had been working in Thailand for decades, was carried out through the establishment of Temporary National Verifica-tion Centres from July 2009 to August 2013 and around 1.7 million Myanmar workers were documented.
For those workers from My-anmar who could not provide evidence of their identity, under a special arrangement with the Thai Authorities, Mobile teams were formed to go to the ar-eas they were employed and around 1 million workers were issued Certificates-of-Identity.
As for the Myanmarworkers in Thailand who have valid passports or Certifi-cates-of-Identity, they will prob-ably be given renewed work permits by the Thai Authorities for the time being. According to the high labour official, vi-sas and work permits of the Myanmar workers with valid passports /Identity Papers, will be extended up to 2020 instead of up to 2022 as was requested by the Myanmar side. Besides, it seems that even under the MoU System, only the workers who are now legally working in Thailand, after their present work permits and visas end, will be allowed to re-enter Thailand for a further period of employment.
In fact, even now Thailand has been sending back batch by batch, Myanmar workers who were sent to Thailand “illegal-ly” by the “brokers” and those who have no specific jobs. In all probability Thailand will be sending back more and more Myanmar workers after 2020. Hence, further “illegal” mi-gration of Myanmar workers to Thailand should, as of now, be severely dealt with. “Illegal” migrant workers, who “find” jobs, particularly in the Informal Sector, stand to be abused and exploited by their employ-ers, more so those working on fishing boats.
Absorbing the returnee workers back into Myanmar’s economy will likely pose a chal-lenge for the Myanmar Gov ernment. Setting up Industrial Zones or Commercial Agricul-tural Ventures in Myanmar along the Myanmar border with Thailand could be a solution to absorb the returnee migrant workers.
Even now it is learned that Thai private investors, to ac-cess low cost Myanmar labour as well as the GSP status of My-anmar, are shifting their labour intensive-low energy consum-ing industries to border ar-eas in the Karen State. Hence systematically establishing “ Border industrial Zones” with-in Myanmar with Government initiative, could enable Myan-mar workers seeking to migrate to Thailand as well as “returnee workers” to be employed in the said “Border Industrial Zones”. In a manner of speaking, the employers will be coming to where the workers are instead of the other way around.
Myanmar national inves-tors could also invest either on their own or in joint ventures with the Thai investors and themselves take advantage of the GSP status given to My-anmar. Unfortunately the My-anmar Industrial Investment Culture seems to have lost its “lustre” since the Socialist era and investment risk taking in setting up industries by those with access to capital is “weak” even now so to speak. Hence, they may have to be given ad-ditional incentives to invest in the “Border Industrial Zones”.
The Border Industrial Zone, if managed well, could become successful like the Thil-awa Industrial Zone in Yangon Region. With the “Economic Corridors” of ASEAN in the offing, it will not be a problem for the Industries and other enterprises within the “Border Industrial Zone” to move the raw materials and/or finished goods across the border to Thai-land or to export them to other countries.
By Lokethar
