BANGKOK, 18 February 2012 – The Labor Ministry has affirmed that migrant workers will have until mid-June to sort out their nationality issues before having to return home, as decided by the Thai government.
Mr. Phadermchai Sasomsub, Minister of Labor, said that Myanmar Ambassador U Aung Thein has asked Thailand to extend the period during which illegal Myanmar workers are to verify their nationality or they will be deported.
According to the Labor Ministry, migrant workers are required to complete the nationality verification process by February 28th, 2012, in order for them to be able to continue working in Thailand.
The discussion on the extension of the verification deadline took place during a meeting between Mr. Phadermchai and Mr. U Aung Thein on Friday.
The Thai Labor Minister reportedly told the Myanmar Ambassador that the Cabinet recently resolved to extend the deadline for more than 1 million workers from Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, who have registered themselves with Thai authorities, to June 14th, 2012.
Official data stated that there are more than 300,000 migrant workers, who have not verified their nationalities, in Thailand.
