Document Actions
Chiangmai military gets tough with migrants
Illegal migrants from Burma should be managed as soon as possible or Chiangmai will be sporting a different image in 5 years, the local Chiangmai News reported yesterday, quoting a military officer.
No.13 - 1/2007
30 January 2007
Thai-Burma Relations
Chiangmai military gets tough with migrants
Illegal migrants from Burma should be managed as soon as possible or Chiangmai will be sporting a different image in 5 years, the local Chiangmai News reported yesterday, quoting a military officer.
Lt-Col Jetsada Ngernkobthong, Commander of the Chiangmai-based First Battalion, 7th Regiment, was speaking following a raid in Sanpatong district that netted 11 Burmese migrant workers. "We shall continue to be decisive with them," he promised.
Most migrants, he said, had entered Thailand through two avenues: Huey Pheung Checkpoint, Maehongson Province; and Nong Ook village, Chiangdao district, Chiangmai province. Most of them pay 5,000 – 10,000 baht ($ 140 – 280) to travel from the border.
According to Migrant Assistance Program (MAP) Foundation, there are 668,576 registered migrant workers in Thailand, of whom 568,878 are from Burma. Meanwhile, Thai workers leaving to work overseas between 1998 and 2005 total 1,190,525, says its report No Human Being is Illegal, 1996-2006, No Migrant Worker is Illegal.
Villagers tortured for "not seeing" the rebels