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Category: Migrant

  • Migrant workers face grim wait after Bangkok high-rise collapse

    BANGKOK – Hnin Nu Yee, a migrant worker from Myanmar, was on the ground floor of a high-rise office in Bangkok tending to construction trash when shock waves from an earthquake, hundreds of kilometers away in her home country, shook the building.

    As the unfinished 32-story tower swayed, people around her started running. Hnin fled too, escaping what in seconds became an apocalyptic mound of crumpled steel and concrete.

    Her friends working on higher floors were entombed in the rubble.

    “I didn’t even realize the earthquake had happened. People were running, so I ran too,” Hnin told Radio Free Asia.

    “I was doing sanitation work, throwing out garbage bags,” she said. “I escaped because I had a chance to run. Others from the upper floors could not run.”

    Hnin Nu Yee, a construction worker who escaped a high rise collapse in Bangkok caused by a powerful earthquake in Myanmar, is pictured in this image from video speaking to a reporter in Bangkok, Thailand, Mar. 29, 2025.
    Hnin Nu Yee, a construction worker who escaped a high rise collapse in Bangkok caused by a powerful earthquake in Myanmar, is pictured in this image from video speaking to a reporter in Bangkok, Thailand, Mar. 29, 2025.
    (RFA Staff/RFA)

    The magnitude 7.7 earthquake Friday near Myanmar’s second-largest city, Mandalay, killed at least 1,600 people in the Southeast Asian country, which was already riven by a protracted civil war, and destroyed temples, homes, roads and bridges.

    It caused panic 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) away in Bangkok as tens of thousands of people poured in to the streets from office towers and skyscraper condos.

    Yet most of the presumed victims of the Bangkok building collapse are from Myanmar and other countries in the region. Thai police said 13 people are confirmed dead and 118 are missing as the search of the rubble enters its third day.

    “I don’t know how many were trapped,” Hnin said. “I can’t say how many because so many Burmese were working here.”

    Millions of migrants work in Thailand

    Wealthier than most of its neighbors, Thailand and especially its capital Bangkok is kept ticking by millions of migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos who often labor in the riskiest industries with limited legal protections.

    Trucks crammed with workers transport them from makeshift corrugated iron dormitories to condo, office and mall construction projects around the sprawling city. Tourists ordering spicy prawn soup at a restaurant are more likely to be served by a waiter from Myanmar than Thailand.

    Myanmar’s civil war has added to the influx of workers. Economic hardship and fear of conscription have been pushing as many as 22,000 Myanmar citizens into Thailand every month, according to a 2024 study by the International Organization for Migration. Up to 7 million Myanmar migrants are now believed to be living in Thailand.

    ‘I am grieving’

    Hnin, from Myanaung in Myanmar’s Ayeyawady region, said she returned to the construction site on Saturday in case any her of friends were there.

    “I felt sad for those who were working with me. Even though we weren’t family, I felt sorry for those I was working with,” she said.

    “I want to say I am grieving with their families.”

    People stand at the site of a collapsed building in Bangkok after a strong earthquake struck central Myanmar, March 28, 2025.
    People stand at the site of a collapsed building in Bangkok after a strong earthquake struck central Myanmar, March 28, 2025.
    (Ann Wang/Reuters)

    In sweltering heat and air laden with dust, hundreds of police and rescue workers have swarmed around the unstable mountain of rubble in the painstaking search for any survivors.

    “We Thais are working our hardest to try to rescue them,” said Suchatvee Suwansawat, part of a team of engineers involved in the rescue operation.

    “We will see how many survivors we can find, but it is very hard. This is something we have never faced before,” he told RFA.

    He said it’s not yet known why the nearly completed building imploded. Dozens of other tall Bangkok buildings swayed during the quake, as earthquake proofing designs them to do, without collapsing.

    Construction of the new premises for Thailand’s state audit agency was overseen by state-owned China Railway 10th Bureau, which secured the building contract in 2020 as part of a consortium, according to Seatao, a Chinese site that reports on Beijing’s Belt & Road global infrastructure plan.

    It said the 32-story tower was the largest building project undertaken by China Railway 10th Bureau. The consortium included Thai construction company Italian-Thai.

    A man from the Bago region in Myanmar, who didn’t give his name, said he earned about 500 baht (US$15) a day as a construction worker on the building.

    “We were working on about the third floor and when my whole body started feeling shaky and dizzy, I realized the earthquake was happening,” he said. “I jumped down and ran as fast as I could.”

    Only four people out of the 11 people in his team have been found, he said.

    “I’ve never experienced something like this,” he said. “I’m just scared.”

    Edited by Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Phetsiam Promngoy, Apichart Sopapong and Stephen Wright for RFA.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Immigration crackdown in southern China puts Myanmar migrant workers on edge

    Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese.

    Undocumented Myanmar migrant workers in southern China are living in fear amid an increase in raids by Chinese authorities on farms and factories near the border, workers and labor activists say.

    The arrests increased after 500 workers at a factory in Yunnan province protested against poor labor conditions in early March, migrant workers told Radio Free Asia.

    Ever since, Chinese police have made daily arrests of at least 30 Myanmar migrant workers in the border towns of Ruili and Jiegao who are undocumented or carry expired border passes, which people use to cross the border without a passport, the workers told RFA Burmese.

    Win Naing, who landed a job at a toy factory Ruili in early January, was issued a border pass so that he could commute to work, but it was short-term and has since expired.

    But now he’s too afraid to go outside, and isn’t sure when he’ll next see his his wife and three children, who are just across the border in Myanmar.

    “Since we stay inside the factory, we don’t have to worry as much about being arrested, but we can’t leave at all,” said Win Naing, who earns around 1,500 Chinese yuan (US$210) per month, considered a decent salary. “Without passports, we have to work and live very cautiously.”

    Most of those detained are being held in prisons in Ruili and nearby Yinjing village, they said, although some have been deported and banned from re-entering China “for several years.”

    People are desperate for jobs

    Every day, nearly 10,000 people wait at the border in Muse, in Myanmar, for a chance to cross into China and authorities only issue passes to about 700 of them.

    Short-term border passes are good for one week of entry into China, and when they expire, holders must reapply for one in Muse. But those who make it across often overstay their pass, said a resident of Shan state’s Kutkai township named De Dee, who is working in Ruili.

    That puts them at risk of arrest during frequent police inspections in places such as the Htike Li and Hwa Fong markets, where Myanmar migrants are known to live and work.

    “Chinese officials conduct checks on the streets and even inside homes,” she said. “Around 30 or 40 migrant workers are arrested each day.”

    The situation is similar in Jiegao, a migrant working there said on condition of anonymity due to security concerns. He said there are frequently “police cars circling the markets,” while authorities regularly “stop motorbikes and arrest people.”

    A migrant working in Muse told RFA that the amount of time undocumented workers are detained in the Ruili and Yinjing prisons varies, as does the lengths of bans on their re-entry to China.

    “Some undocumented migrants … are detained for a week, 10 days, or a month,” he said. “Those arrested in early March — mostly women— following the protest were banned from reentering China for about five or six years.”

    Those banned from re-entry who need to return to China are forced to pay more than 2 million kyats (US$953) — an incredibly steep cost for the average Myanmar citizen — to do so via illegal routes, the migrant added.

    Aid workers were unable to definitively say how many Myanmar migrants have been arrested in China since the protest earlier this month, and RFA was unable to independently confirm the number.

    ‘There are so many of them’

    Attempts by RFA to contact the Chinese Embassy in Yangon about the arrests of undocumented Myanmar nationals in Ruili and Jiegao went unanswered by the time of publishing, as did calls to the Myanmar Consulate in Yunnan.

    RFA Mandarin spoke with a Chinese resident of Ruili surnamed Sun who said that police in the town had been targeting illegal Myanmar migrants for at least six months, although the arrests had intensified beginning in March.

    “Most of them are men who enter the country and go to the industrial park to find work, including jobs making parts for domestic cell phones and daily-use hardware, with salaries of 1,000-3,000 yuan (US$140-420) per month,” he said.

    Sun said that illegal migrants who are arrested “are usually repatriated, but not fined.”

    A merchant surnamed Zhang from Yunnan’s Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, where Ruili and Jiegao are located, told RFA that Myanmar migrants also find work in area restaurants and massage parlors.

    He said that “because there are so many of them, the Chinese police are not in a position to carry out mass expulsions” and choose to repatriate small numbers of them back to Myanmar at a time.

    Translated by Aung Naing and RFA Mandarin. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Burmese and RFA Mandarin.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Malaysia arrests journalist who exposed migrant trafficking, corruption

    New York, March 3, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the arrest of Malaysian journalist B. Nantha Kumar on allegations of soliciting bribes, days after he exposed an alleged migrant trafficking syndicate at the capital’s main airport.

    “Corruption and human trafficking are crimes in Malaysia; reporting on these offences is not,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “Malaysian authorities must ensure B. Nantha Kumar can continue to report safely and that the law is not misused to curtail investigative reporting or to intimidate the media. Journalists must be free to uncover wrongdoing.”

    Nantha who has worked for the leading independent news site Malaysiakini since 2018, was detained by anti-corruption authorities on February 28 on allegations that he took a bribe from an agent who dealt with migrant workers.

    Nantha reports regularly on migrant trafficking in Malaysia, where the mistreatment of migrant workers has been widely criticized. His latest investigation, which alleged that a retired senior official and a foreign national run a criminal operation out of Kuala Lumpur International Airport, was published on February 22.

    Malaysiakini managing editor Ng Ling Fong told CPJ that the outlet stood by Nantha’s reporting, and that he was due to be released on bail on March 4 after a four-day remand. Malaysiakini said in a statement that it would not condone any staff wrongdoing, if proven.

    Nantha was among three Malaysiakini journalists questioned by police last year over their source for a report about a police leadership reshuffle.

    Malaysiakini has faced intimidation and lawsuits since it was founded in 1999. In November, authorities ordered the outlet to remove its reports about an alleged corruption scandal. In January, police seized its executive editor’s laptop after reporting an ex-minister’s remarks.

    The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission did not immediately respond to CPJ’s request for comment via email.


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Center for Constitutional Rights Challenges Trump Migrant Flights to Guantánamo, ICC Sanctions & More

    Seg3 guantanamo

    We look at a victory for immigrant rights, after a federal judge temporarily blocked the U.S. government from deporting three Venezuelan men to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where the Trump administration has started to send thousands of immigrants for detention. Our guest, Baher Azmy, legal director for the Center for Constitutional Rights, sought an emergency order to protect the three men, who had been held for about a year at the Otero detention center. The men say they left Venezuela to request asylum in the United States but were rejected. When they saw others from the detention center transferred to Guantánamo, they feared they could be next and asked the judge to preemptively block their transfer. This all comes as the Trump administration recently withdrew temporary protected status for Venezuelans living in the United States. “We decided we had to move and prevent their transfer, their rendition, to the lawless space in Guantánamo,” says Azmy. We also speak with Vince Warren, the executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights. Warren says that the United States is “facing a constitutional crisis on a range of issues, and it’s just not clear to any of us whether this administration will actually comply with the rule of law in any context.”


    This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Blue states sue Trump administration to protect birthright citizenship; House could vote Wednesday to send Trump migrant detention bill – January 21, 2025

    Comprehensive coverage of the day’s news with a focus on war and peace; social, environmental and economic justice.

    The post Blue states sue Trump administration to protect birthright citizenship; House could vote Wednesday to send Trump migrant detention bill – January 21, 2025 appeared first on KPFA.


    This content originally appeared on KPFA – The Pacifica Evening News, Weekdays and was authored by KPFA.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • More than 884 migrant workers from Bangladesh died in Saudi Arabia between January and July 2024


    This content originally appeared on Human Rights Watch and was authored by Human Rights Watch.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Myanmar junta can order migrant workers home to fight, agency says

    Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese.

    Myanmar’s Ministry of Labor has issued a ruling allowing it to call back overseas workers for military service and has made the employment agencies that send workers abroad responsible for bringing them back if ordered to, an agency told Radio Free Asia on Friday.

    Since the military ousted a democratically elected government in a 2021 coup, many thousands of Myanmar people have moved abroad to escape a crumbling economy, violent turmoil and, since early this year, the threat of being drafted into the military as it struggles against anti-junta forces.

    While many try their luck and head abroad in the hope of finding work, many others find work through employment agencies, filling jobs overseas through deals Myanmar has struck with other governments.

    The military’s ministry issued a regulation this week ordering job agencies to take full responsibility for their workers’ military service, and only to issue new contracts stipulating that workers and their foreign employers must agree that employees can be called back to serve, a member of staff at a Yangon-based employment agency told RFA.

    “Agencies have been given responsibility for their conscription. After we take that duty, the junta has a lot of ways of calling them back. It’s a lot of pressure,” said the agency employee who declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter.

    “If the workers we send are called back, then the trouble will start. If they don’t return, are we going to take action?” he said.

    Under the regulation, workers would only be called back after two years, the agency source said, while expressing concern that the time rule could easily be ignored. RFA was not able to determine the reaction of foreign employers to the regulation.

    RFA tried to call the junta’s labor minister, Nyan Win, to ask about the rule but he did not respond by the time of publication.

    The junta enacted a conscription law in February, making men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27 to serve for up to three years, after various insurgent forces battling to end military rule went on the offensive and made significant advances.

    The law triggered an exodus of young people to places like Thailand. Myanmar authorities have detained and forcibly recruited people being sent back to Myanmar and turned to prisoners and even minors to fill gaps in the ranks, according to witnesses and residents of some communities.

    Struggling with a crippled economy, the junta has already ordered that Myanmar workers in Laos and Thailand make payments from their salaries to bolster foreign reserves and employment agencies risk having their licenses revoked if those remittances are not collected.

    Military authorities have also announced strict action against anyone caught trying to dodge the draft, state-run media reported on Nov. 7.

    Nationwide, there are 21,000 conscripts at 23 training schools, the independent research group Burma Affairs and Conflict Study said in a report on Oct. 15.

    RELATED STORIES

    Myanmar junta expands mandatory remittance for migrant workers

    Surge of Myanmar migrants into Thailand comes with grim costs

    29 young men escape Myanmar junta’s conscription

    Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA staff.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Burmese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Myanmar junta expands mandatory remittance for migrant workers

     Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese.

    Myanmar workers in Laos must remit a quarter of their salary back home, the junta’s minister of labor said, the latest cohort of migrant workers forced to exchange earnings at an artificially low rate as the military struggles to acquire foreign currency.

    The Ministry of Labor has already implemented increasingly strict measures on migrant workers in neighboring Thailand to pay taxes, remit part of their salary at an artificially low exchange rate through junta-owned banks and pay additional fees to receive vital documentation. 

    On Tuesday, Minister of Labor Myint Naung met Myanmar factory workers in Vientiane to tell them remittances needed to be submitted through “official channels,” his ministry said in a statement.

    Myanmar’s economy has been in freefall since the generals ousted an elected government in early 2021, bringing tentative political reforms and economic growth to a halt and ushering in bloody turmoil.

    Foreign investment has dropped precipitously in the three and a half years since the coup while overall, the economy has contracted by nearly 20%, according to the World Bank. Myanmar’s 2024 gross domestic product growth estimates have been halved to 1%, in large part due to widespread conflict and junta mismanagement.

    Desperate for foreign exchange, the junta has increasingly turned to tapping its many migrant workers.

    In Laos, where hundreds of thousands of Myanmar workers are believed to be employed in services, agriculture and manufacturing, workers fretted about how much of their money would be left after the new deduction through official junta channels, in addition to a 2% tax they are required to pay the Myanmar embassy.

    “For basic workers like us, it’s not OK at all,” said one worker who declined to be identified for safety reasons.

    “We’re only getting 80 yuan (US$11) a day and then we have to subtract the cost of food. After that, we have to transfer our salary through a broker,” said the worker at a factory where wages are paid in the Chinese currency. 

    Myint Naing, in a speech outside of the Alpilao International Sole Limited garment factory, said workers could make the transfer once a month, or for up to three months at a time.

    “Whether it’s using official banking systems, through the Central Bank of Myanmar from someone who has a Remittance Business License, or it’s an international money transfer service linked through a bank system, you must transfer the money to your family,” he said.

    But the worker said the exchange rate the junta set was crippling.

    “It’s so low. After sending it through the places they say we have to use to transfer, what’s left isn’t enough for our families,” he said.

    The civilian shadow National Unity Government, or NUG, that was set up after the coup by members of the ousted civilian administration, has denounced the junta’s rules for migrant workers as a systematic violation of their rights. 

    “Both the military and its finances are in crisis,” the NUG’s vice labor minister, Kyaw Ni, said in a statement.

    “As the military’s failures increase, they need to replenish with money from people. So they’re turning to workers in Laos.” 

    RELATED STORIES:

    Political instability since coup prompts foreign investment exit from Myanmar 

    Shuttered Thai offices leave Myanmar migrants in legal limbo

    Thai police detain 26,000 migrant workers from Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia

    Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Burmese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Thailand closes 6 schools for Myanmar migrant children in southern province

    The Thai government’s sudden closure of six schools in southern Surat Thani province has left nearly 2,000 Myanmar migrant children without access to education, school officials and parents told Radio Free Asia. 

    The government said the schools were operating illegally with teachers who didn’t have the legal right to live and work in Thailand. Children from the closed schools can enroll in public schools in the province, the government said in an Sept. 8 announcement.

    A labor activist working on the issue of migrant workers in Thailand said 24 teachers were being investigated by Thai authorities and may face legal action under Thai law.

    Thai officials also apparently don’t want the children singing Myanmar’s national anthem or dressed in different uniforms than at Thai schools, according to the founder of one of the schools who asked to remain anonymous so as not to draw attention from Thai authorities.

    “They want the education system to be integrated with the Thai system, where a Thai teacher should lead the school, only the Thai national anthem should be sung, and the image of the King must be properly maintained,” he said.

    One of the schools closed in Surat Thani last week served more than 1,000 students, according to Zaw Khaing Myo, the school’s principal. The Myittar Yeik School was established in 2022, he said.

    20240912-THAILAND-SCHOOLS-CLOSED-MIGRANTS-002.jpg
    Pupils study at a school in Thailand, Jan. 22, 2024. (Manan Vatsyayana/AFP)

    “We have many children, and they are facing many difficulties. Now, parents cannot leave their children at home or take them to work, making it impossible for them to work without constant worry,” he said.

    Children have already missed at least two years of education due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said Thein Aye, the father of two students at Myittar Yeik School. 

    “It is sad that this is happening just as they were finally able to return to school,” he said.

    The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand on Sept. 8 called for a review of the school closures and emphasized the need to ensure that migrant children have access to education. 

    Aid workers specializing in migrant issues estimate that at least 50,000 Myanmar migrant children are currently studying in Thailand.

    The Thai Ministry of Education has instructed local authorities to inspect other schools for Myanmar migrants to verify whether teachers have a permit to work in Thailand. 

    As a result, migrant schools in other parts of Thailand – such as Mae Sot – are now worried that they will be shut down, according to the Myanmar migrant school founder.

    RFA has contacted both the Thai Embassy in Yangon and the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok to inquire about this situation, but no response was immediately received.

    Translated by Kalyar Lwin. Edited by Matt Reed.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Burmese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Muslims, Bengali-speaking migrant workers branded as ‘Bangladeshi’; ‘revenge attacks’ in Delhi, UP, Odisha

    Bangladesh was plunged into an unprecedented crisis on August 5 with the ouster of erstwhile Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina following months of violent student protest. Looting and attacks were reported on leaders associated with the Awami League, the party of Hasina, as well as on their homes, shops, and businesses. Additionally, there have been numerous reports of attacks on the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh. At the same time, various old and unrelated photos and videos have gone viral on social media in India as attacks on Hindus in the neighboring country. These have been debunked by Alt News. Several Right-wing social media users have been using these false claims to target the minority Muslim community in India.

    Politicians have also played an active role in exacerbating the situation. For example, BJP MLA Nitesh Rane posted a tweet on August 5, asking if Hindus were being attacked in Bangladesh, why should Indians spare a single Bangladeshi in their country. He added that they would hunt down and kill every Bangladeshi living in India. Rane deleted the tweet after it had sparked a controversy. However, this is not the first time that he has made such an inflammatory statement. In January of this year, during the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha procession in Mira Road, Mumbai, when communal tensions broke out, Nitesh Rane made a similar incendiary statement, threatening to hunt down individuals.

    The impact of inflammatory social media posts and fake news has been significant, leading to targeted attacks on the minority Muslim community in India. Criminals, motivated by a desire to avenge the attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, have been attacking people living in slums in various parts of the country, branding them as Bangladeshis. Several Hindu organisations have been directly involved in these attacks, and the accused are closely associated with the ruling BJP. In many places, Bengali-speaking workers from West Bengal and other residents of slums have been harassed and attacked under the suspicion of being Bangladeshis.

    Shastri Park, New Delhi

    On August 8, a group of Hindu extremists attacked garbage collectors in the darkness of night, accusing them of being Bangladeshis, and beat them up with sticks and rods. In a video that went viral, the attackers could be heard saying that these snakes were thriving here while their Hindu sisters and daughters were being raped in Bangladesh. Cow-vigilante and Hindu Raksha Dal member Daksh Chaudhary could be clearly identified in this video. He posted this video on his social media account with the caption, “We will not allow them to stay in this country anymore; if the government cannot remove them, we will.”

    After attacking people living in slums branding them as Bangladeshis, Chaudhary released another video stating that he had no regrets over his actions. He made an open call, stating that they had started the process and that the youth and various organizations of India knew what needed to be done. He declared that no Bangladeshi Rohingya Muslims would remain in this country and though the government may be powerless, they were not.

    Taking cognisance of the video of the attack on garbage collectors by Daksh Chaudhary and his associates, Delhi Police registered a case in the matter. However, no arrests had been made so far. It is worth noting that Chaudhary has several cases registered against him in different police stations. In February year, he entered a mosque in Sahibabad wearing shoes and pushed the Muslims present there, warning them against praying there. He also threatened to kill them if they tried to go to the mosque’s roof. He was later arrested by the police for hurting religious sentiments and disturbing the peace. During the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Chaudhary and his associates had attacked Congress candidate Kanhaiya Kumar and abused voters in Ayodhya (Faizabad) when the BJP lost the election there.

    Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh

    On August 7, Pinky Chaudhary, the president of the Hindu Raksha Dal, released a video threatening that if Hindus were being persecuted in Bangladesh, Bangladeshis would be treated the same way in India. They would be killed and driven out. In another video, Pinky Chaudhary gave a 24-hour ultimatum. He stated that the persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh had to stop and that areas in which Bangladeshis were living in India were on the radar of the Hindu Raksha Dal.

    On August 9, Pinky Chaudhary and his supporters attacked people living in shanties, branded them as Bangladeshis, and vandalised and set fire to the slums. Several Right-wing users shared the video of this incident in solidarity with the attackers, claiming that the people living there were Bangladeshis. Ashok Srivastava, editor of India’s state-run news channel Doordarshan, also defended Pinky Chaudhary on Twitter, stating that Hindus in India were distressed and angry, and it was possible that Pinky Chaudhary was unable to control his emotions.

    After the video had gone viral, Ghaziabad Police took cognisance of the matter and registered an FIR against Pinky Chaudhary and his supporters and subsequently arrested him. In a statement to the media, police clarified that based on the facts that emerged during the investigation, the people who were beaten up for being Bangladeshis were actually Indian citizens from Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

    Eyewitnesses to the incident reported that people were asked about their religion before being attacked. A child present at the scene said that Pinky Chaudhary and his supporters asked whether they were Muslim or Hindu. As soon as someone identified as Muslim, they started beating them up.

    On August 10, Pinky Chaudhary released another video claiming that they had done what they had claimed and called on all Hindus to kill Bangladeshis and drive them out of India.

    Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh

    Satyam Pandit, associated with the Hindu Veer Sena, issued a warning to Rohingyas and Bangladeshis to leave the country within 24 to 72 hours. He threatened that if they did not comply, every worker of the Hindu Veer Sena would cut their beards, pull out their hair, and bury them in Bangladesh.

    The Uttar Pradesh Police took cognisance of the matter and registered an FIR against Satyam Pandit, arresting him on August 12.

    Odisha

    According to a report published on The Times of India’s website, several videos had surfaced on social media showing attacks on Bengali-speaking workers from West Bengal in the districts of Jajpur, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, and Sambalpur of Odisha, in which they were branded as Bangladeshis. Local people demanded proof of their Indian citizenship. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee contacted her Odisha counterpart Mohan Charan Manjhi, urging him to intervene following reports of the attacks on Bengali-speaking workers.

    According to a report by The Indian Express, several workers of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of Odisha’s ruling party BJP, surrounded 34 individuals at a construction site in Sambalpur district on suspicion that they were Bangladeshi nationals and handed them over to the police. After investigation, police officials stated that they were not from Bangladesh, but from the Murshidabad area of West Bengal, after which they were released.

    Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh

    On August 11, a Hindu organisation held a rally against the atrocities committed against Hindus in Bangladesh. In the video of this rally, one can clearly hear calls for taking up arms to protect Hindus. The video also shows intense sloganeering against Muslims, with offensive comments made against Islam.

    After the video went viral, the local Muslim community lodged a complaint with the police, following which the person seen in the video, Devraj, apologised to the Muslim community in a video, stating that the words were not directed at Indian Muslims. However, there is currently no update on the police’s response in this case.

     

    The post Muslims, Bengali-speaking migrant workers branded as ‘Bangladeshi’; ‘revenge attacks’ in Delhi, UP, Odisha appeared first on Alt News.


    This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Abhishek Kumar.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Migrant workers risk missing out on Thai minimum wage rises

    Migrant workers play a vital role in Thailand as its population ages and its labor-intensive industries struggle to fill jobs but they often miss out on the remuneration they are entitled to and lack the voice to do anything about it, labor activists say. 

    Thailand’s minimum wage has been boosted twice this year and could be raised again but many employers simply don’t pass on raises to their migrant-worker staff and some industry leaders even say the minimum wage shouldn’t apply to migrants as they only send it home.

    Although the minimum wage differs in Thailand depending on the location and type of job, it is now up to about 370 baht (US$10) a day, according to the Ministry of Labor.

    For the estimated two million Myanmar workers in Thailand, or about 75% of Thailand’s total migrant labor force, that’s a wage they would be lucky to get back home where bloody turmoil following a 2021 military coup has devastated the economy.

    Myanmar citizen Zin Nwe Oo, 29, works as a seamstress in a Thai factory making bags and is resigned to not getting the minimum but is still determined to help her family back home.

    In the town of Mae Sot on Thailand’s western border with Myanmar, she says she’s made below Thailand’s minimum wage for a decade. 

    The most Zin Nwe Oo has made is 200 baht a day and now she worries that even that is being eroded by Myanmar’s rampant inflation.

    “We’re struggling to make ends meet … Even if the government increases the basic salary we won’t benefit if commodity prices keep rising,” she said, referring to Myanmar, where she sends her remittances. “I want to support my parents. If my siblings don’t get a good education, they’ll end up as laborers. That’s why I’ve sacrificed myself.”

    A dollar a day

    Labor activists say many Myanmar workers in Thailand aren’t getting the minimum wage although data is hard to come by given the huge numbers of undocumented workers.

    “Enforcement, that’s a big problem,” said Migrant Working Group project coordinator Koreeyor Manuchae, referring to the prospect of workers in some areas seeing any minimum wage increase in their pockets

    Undocumented workers can feel powerless to complain, fearing that approaching authorities to report unfair treatment could result in them being sent home.

    The problem is particularly acute along the border, in places like Mae Sot, where garment factories and plantations take advantage of the abundant cheap labor from Myanmar.

    Some informal sectors, like agriculture, can pay as little as 36 baht, or one dollar, a day. 

    But even workers with the proper paperwork know that a complaint to labor protection organizations will set off a long process of inquiry. Inevitably, they fear they could lose their jobs, or face intimidation by employers.

    DSC_0027.JPG
    Workers from Myanmar sort seafood on the jetty in Ranong, Thailand, on May 22, 2022. (Kiana Duncan/RFA)

    Some workers have complained and even taken their cases to court but are still waiting, years later, for a resolution.

    “Workers don’t want to go to the court. It can take six months, or a year, or maybe more than a year to complete the case,” Koreeyor said.

    Thailand’s minimum wage was increased by a national average of 2.4% in January and in April lawmakers announced another increase, for staff in certain tourist areas, meaning a daily wage of 400 baht in four-star hotels with more than 50 employees.

    In early May, the civilian government that came to power after elections in May last year announced that 400 baht a day would become the national minimum.

    But the decision needs agreement on a tripartite wage committee, made up of employers, workers and labor officials. Migrant workers have no voice in the debate as they have no right to form unions.

    ‘Lowest standards’

    Employer and industry associations warn of the burden of a higher minimum wage, in particular on small and medium-sized enterprises, while some argue that the benefits of increasing the minimum wage are wasted if the extra cash is going to migrant workers who send it home.

    “There is no reason to raise it,” said Chaiyan Charoenchokethavee, director general of the Employers Confederation of Thai Business.

    An increase would hurt businesses while being of little benefit to the economy, he said.

    “It will largely benefit foreign workers … [they] will receive full benefits and transfer the money back home without it circulating in the Thai economy. That’s opposite government policy.”    

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    In June, the Federation of Thai Industries, or FTI, called for any minimum wage increase to be limited to specific skilled workers in “old industries” such as the auto parts, electronics and telecommunications sectors. 

    Wiwat Hemmondharop, vice-chairman of the FTI, said raising the minimum wage for everyone would not benefit Thailand.

    “Migrant workers tend to spend only half their wage here and send the rest to their families. This means a higher wage would support the GDP of neighboring countries,” Wiwat told the Bangkok Post in May.

    Labor campaigners are dismayed by such talk.

    “The minimum wage is the lowest standard, the basic standard to guarantee that people survive, we shouldn’t be against that,” said Koreeyor.

    “As the owner or company or factory, if you could not take responsibility to pay the minimum wage, you should not run your business.”

    Edited by RFA staff.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Kiana Duncan and Pimuk Rakkanam for RFA.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

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  • Chinese town deports 200 Myanmar migrant workers each day

    More than 200 Myanmar migrant workers are deported from the Chinese border town of Ruili each day as Chinese authorities tighten immigration controls, several workers told Radio Free Asia.

    Hundreds of people line up daily in Muse, a town on the Myanmar side, to cross into China to find jobs or to return to jobs they already have in restaurants, clothing stores, factories, on farms and at construction sites.

    But limits on the number of people who can cross, the duration of their stay and changes to border crossing protocol have resulted in many of the workers being in violation of immigration statutes once they get to China, prompting many to be sent back, the workers said.

    To gain entry into Ruili, workers need to submit a photo attached to a QR code sheet from an employer that confirms they have a job offer, a temporary seven-day border pass, health certificates and endorsements of employment agencies.

    Many workers entered China without these, and if they are caught, they will be sent back, a Myanmar worker in Ruili told RFA on condition of anonymity for security reasons. 

    “Some police inspect and leave you alone, but others will arrest workers immediately. We cannot go outside confidently,” he said. 

    “We have to remain vigilant when we go to work. Good employers will get us out of arrests, but some bosses don’t care. So we always avoid the police when going to work.”

    Rising costs, dropping wages

    Crossing into Ruili is never easy, the worker said.

    “If there is direct contact with the employer who can give guarantee, the worker can get QR code and the entry pass,” he said. “If the worker is not taken by the employer and they say they are only visiting, we are not allowed to get a QR code that would allow us to stay.”

    Many of the workers enter China without the QR code, instead applying only for the temporary border pass, which allows them to stay for only seven days. After that they need to return to Myanmar or be in violation of the law.

    ENG_BUR_ChinaDeportations_03222024.2.jpg
    The China-Myanmar border gate in Muse in Shan state is seen July 5, 2021. (AFP)

    In the past, workers could pay as little as 2,000 kyats (about US$1) to get the border pass, work a full week in China, return to Myanmar – and then buy another pass to re-enter China. 

    But these days, they have to pay employment agencies 200 Chinese yuan (about $28) for the QR code, making frequent border crossings unaffordable.

    Since August, thousands of Myanmar people have been trying to get into China through the Muse-Ruili crossing as Myanmar’s economy has deteriorated. The influx of workers in Ruili has resulted in employers paying lower wages.

    A job that previously paid 3,000 yuan ($415) per month now only pays around 1,500, a resident of Muse said. Still, thousands line up to get into China every day.

    He said that the throngs of workers in Muse incur many expenses even before they get to China.

    “They have high travel costs and have to pay for staying at dormitories,” he said. “It takes about 10 to 20 days to receive the documents.”

    ‘Like chickens in baskets’

    RFA attempted to contact officials in the Chinese Embassy in Yangon, as well as the Myanmar Consulate in Yunnan province, but neither responded to requests for comment on the situation

    A spokesperson for the Myanmar junta in Shan State, where Muse is located, did not answer queries into the matter.

    Rules for sending laborers between Myanmar and China state that legally employed workers need to return to Myanmar three times each year and apply for reentry. 

    But in practice, the rules are confusing and the new QR system leaves many vulnerable to deportation, which leaves them at the mercy of their employers, an observer of Myanmar labor issues told RFA on condition of anonymity for personal safety.

    “These workers can be arrested, jailed and deported anytime. They are like chickens in baskets,” he said. “The employment contract favors the employers without fixing rates for working hours, overtime fee and bonuses.”

    Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Eugene Whong.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Burmese.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

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    This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

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  • Why have the Tories abandoned migrant victims of modern slavery?

    The Illegal Migration Bill removes protections for migrants that the Tories themselves put in place. Why?


    This content originally appeared on openDemocracy RSS and was authored by Cameron Thibos.

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  • Texas Gov. Abbott’s Solution to Formula Shortage? Let Migrant Babies Starve

    One ACLU attorney declared that every child, “regardless of whether Gov. Abbott and Border Patrol agents consider them ‘our child’ or not, deserves food and love.”


    This content originally appeared on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community and was authored by Jessica Corbett.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Better business support, services needed for migrants: Labor

    Migrants in Australia have been left behind in the rush to digitise government services and are missing out on entrepreneurial schemes because of underfunded agencies and poorly designed programs, according to a Labor taskforce.

    The taskforce consulted with cultural and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities last year and found they had been “sidelined” by federal government services that relied on Google Translate, and there was a dependence on digital and social media to deliver vital health information and economic support measures communication.

    The taskforce launched its report on Tuesday, with policy recommendations including a new whole of government effort for translations and improving the current digital transformation strategy for CALD communities, as well as a a CALD-focused New Enterprise Incentive Scheme to support new migrants setting up a business.

    Labor Federal member for Wills Peter Khalil chaired a multicultural engagement taskforce that recommended policy changes to support diverse communities. Image: Facebook.

    “Migrants to Australia make a huge contribution to our communities and economy, with migrants twice as likely to start a business, and a third of small businesses owned by those born overseas,” Federal Labor MP Peter Khalil said.

    Labor said its taskforce consulted with multicultural stakeholders and community leaders across Australia for more than a year and received more than 60 submissions as it probed migrant’s access to government services and the support they receive for business and innovation.

    It found that the rush to digital services had left some CALD communities behind.

    “Community members want one to-one assistance through the application process, not an online chat box or an automated call line,” the report said.

    Of particular concern was the federal New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS), which the taskforce heard requires a high level of English language proficiency and an inflexible time commitment.

    “We need to harness the incredible potential of migrants, including refugees, in the field of business and entrepreneurship,” the report said.  “We propose a tailored program, with similar goals to the NEIS program.”

    Labor recommended a new “Arrive and Thrive” NEIS program to be tailored to the needs of CALD communities and offer more time flexibility and wraparound services. A new Services Australia business coordinator could also provide translation assistance and support for CALD people starting a business or applying for grants.

    According to the taskforce report, CALD communities often are not aware of the services available to them, and many services have not been properly designed for them.

    The poor access is caused by a lack of mandated reporting on equity access to services, cuts to frontline public service staff, incorrect translations undermining confidence in services, critical services like the NDIS not being tailored to CALD communities and limited assistance for older CALD people applying for aged care packages, according to the report.

    Local and specialist service providers are also missing out because of government procurement policies.

    “The Taskforce heard from multiple organisations that the government tender process is now geared towards large organisations who operate nationally rather than local or specialist service providers,” the report said.

    “These larger programs tend to have a one-size fits all approach to services and are unable to address the needs of specific CALD communities because it is not within their remit or in their capacity to do so.”

    The report also found accessing to government business support is “unnecessarily difficult” for CALD communities with grant programs often only available in English and some advertising campaigns appearing only on social media.

    The federal government should pursue a whole-of-government strategy for translations and improve the Digital Transformation Strategy for CALD communities, according to the taskforce.

    This would involve the Digital Transformation Agency developing a roadmap for digital government services tailored for CALD communities, and audio translations being offered essential government websites. A one-to-one in-person option should also be offered for each essential service, according to Labor.

    CALD communities should also receive targeted support for the COVID-19 vaccine roll out, including messaging in their native language across several channels. There should also be equity in access to vaccinations, regardless of visa or Medicare status, the taskforce recommended.

    The post Better business support, services needed for migrants: Labor appeared first on InnovationAus.

    This post was originally published on InnovationAus.

  • In Harm’s Way

    The federal government is quietly expanding its use of “tender age” shelters for migrant kids. We’ll tell you what we know. Then, we revisit a story from Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, looking at how Jesuit priests got away with sexually abusing children.

    Don’t miss out on the next big story. Get the Weekly Reveal newsletter today.

    This post was originally published on Reveal.

  • Across the Desert and the Sea

    African migrants fleeing persecution or seeking opportunity often end up in Libya, where they are tortured and trafficked. Many try to escape to Europe, only to be intercepted at sea and returned to Libya. On this episode of Reveal, we bring you one reporter’s dispatch from a treacherous migrant rescue operation and explore how Europe’s immigration policy is helping Libyan warlords.

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    This post was originally published on Reveal.