| Asean members have a duty to protect migrants |
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| Written by The Nation | |
| Monday, 09 June 2008 00:00 | |
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Cyclone Nargis has put many homeless and hapless ethnic Burmese, Mon and Karen migrants - desperate to escape the horrendous calamity, hunger, poverty, unhealthy conditions and associated human misery predicaments - in limbo. Pursuing their pipedreams to seek some semblance of merciful compassion, recognised acceptance of their urgent plight and more humane civil rights treatment wherever/ however - their only seemingly hopeful option seems to be sneaking across tightly patrolled borders into Thailand. Unfortunately, many uprooted migrant workers from Burma, whose sole goal is to find legal employment and to create better future lives for their loved ones, become exploited victims of unscrupulous human trafficking brokers, corrupt immigration officials, myopic, outdated policies regarding job seekers. Discriminatory policies deny universal civil rights and social welfare protection even though constitutional laws cover everybody on Thai soil. A well-coordinated proactive plan, under the auspices of Asean, must address this problem now! Chanchai Prasertson |
