The formal channels funneling Myanmar labourers overseas are often proving just as corrupt, fee-inducing and negligent of the workers’ rights as the illicit smuggling networks. Workers embarking on the government-sanctioned route may even be worse off, according to research and interviews compiled by European non-profits Finnwatch and Swedwatch.
In Thailand’s poultry industry, Myanmar workers who waited through delays and jumped through all the proper legal hurdles to obtain their jobs are still encountering rights abuses that mirror their undocumented counterparts, the research found. The conditions and extortion are so dire they approximate forced labour, yet the groups who brokered the employment were government-backed recruiters.
The researchers detailed the conditions in six Thai poultry factories owned by four companies: Charoen Pokphand Foods, Laemthong, Centaco and Saha Farms Group. At each of the factories the majority of the workers were Myanmar and had gone through the legal system signed into place through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Bangkok and Nay Pyi Taw. Authorised recruitment agencies Today Top Star, Arbourfield Co Ltd, and Yun Nadi Oo and Associates facilitated the employment process, but according to the report, they diverged wildly from the accredited system. (Courtesy of MMTimes)
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