BANGKOK, June 16 — Amid the continuous exodus of foreign workers from Thailand, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has reiterated that it had no policy to expel immigrant workers.
NCPO deputy spokesman Col Winthai Suvaree said migrant labour problems had accumulated for a decade and the NCPO only wanted all migrant workers to be registered and work legally without having to hide from authorities.
“The work of ministries must be integrated and their directions and principles must be united in all dimensions. Humanitarianism and international standard are observed. This will be beneficial to operators and alien labor. Alien workers will receive adequate health services and enjoy health standards,” Col Winthai said.
Operators employing migrant workers could continue their businesses and should maintain order among their employees, and the NCPO will take rational and realistic action to support economic growth, national interest and sustainability.
Col Winthai said that urgent problems needing to be addressed were child labour, human trafficking, and corrupt officials and brokers. Solutions would focus on workers in the fisheries, textile and sugarcane sectors where protection was difficult.
In Sa Kaeo province, more than 2,000 Cambodian workers were waiting at the Aranyaprathet immigrant checkpoint to return to their homeland today. The Thai authorities deployed trucks to carry the aliens across the border to the Cambodian town of Poipet.
Since June 1, Thai authorities have sent more than 70,000 Cambodian workers from Sa Kaeo to Poipet.
