Disabled migrant’s petition thrown out by local court

The petition, submitted on 11 April and turned down on 25 April, had requested for the repeal of the Social Security Office (SSO) policy denying migrant workers access to Workmen’s Compensation Fund (WCF).  According to the policy, migrants must be able to show registration documents and a work permit as well as a passport or alien identification documents.
 
Nang Noom Maisaeng, 37, the disabled Shan migrant, however, could present only a work permit issued by the labor ministry.

 
_{Somchai Homla-or                                                        Nang Noom Maisaeng}

She therefore received only a lumpsum compensation of B584,896 ($18,278) from her employers, as ordered by the Chiangmai Labor Court on 13 May.
 
According to Somchai, “The Ministry of Labor, by refusing to revoke the SSO’s existing policy in question, is not only unlawfully neglecting to perform its duty owed to all migrant workers, but also clearly breaching non-discrimination principles guaranteed by the Thai constitution as well as a number of important international conventions to which the Thai government is a signatory.”
 
The HRDF will be petitioning the Supreme Administrative Court of Thailand in Bangkok on behalf of Nang Noom and her two colleagues tomorrow, 28 May.
 
There are approximately 2 million Burmese migrant workers in Thailand. Only 568,878 have been registered as migrant workers by June 2007. At least half a million of them are said to be Shans.