Rights Groups Call for Probe into Migrant Deaths

By SAI SILP
The International Labor Organization (ILO) and local human rights groups are urging the Thai government to speed up an investigation into an incident which resulted in the suffocation deaths of 54 Burmese migrant workers on Wednesday. They also called for compensation for the survivors and efforts to prevent similar loss of life in the future.

The ILO Sub-regional Office for East Asia in Bangkok released a statement on Friday saying that the office is following developments in this investigation and is making its own enquiries into the circumstances surrounding the tragedy. The statement also said that trade unions and other labor rights organizations would be monitoring treatment of the survivors.

“While Thailand cannot be held accountable for the reasons desperate young men, women and even children leave Burma and other neighboring countries to search for work in Thailand, the Royal Thai Government is obliged to prevent the exploitation of those migrants inside Thailand, regardless of the documentation they may or may not have,” the statement said.

Satien Thanphrom from the Center for AIDS Rights (CAR), an organization which coordinates support for the migrant workers involved in the case, told The Irrawaddy that the Thai government should speed up its investigation to determine whether the migrants were victims of human trafficking. If they were forcibly taken into Thailand, they should receive assistance and compensation, he said.

He also warned against hastily deporting the migrants, since they could be at risk if they are returned to Burma.

The repatriation of these workers is dangerous for them because this is a big case and we cannot predict the reaction from the Burmese authorities,” said Satien.

He added that the authorities should find appropriate accommodation for the 67 survivors, who are facing charges of illegal entry or changing their workplaces without permission. Their cases have been submitted to Ranong Provincial Court and they are currently being held in an overcrowded jail.

The incident occurred on Wednesday, when 54 Burmese migrants suffocated to death in a seafood container truck in Ranong Province on the west coast of Thailand while they were traveling to seek jobs in the southern provinces of Phuket and Phang Nga. The deaths occurred in Suksamran District, near Kawthoung, Burma. Among the victims, 37 were women and 17 were men.

On Friday, two of the survivors were still receiving treatment at the Suksamran and Muang Ranong hospitals. The other survivors are facing repatriation or detention in prison if they cannot afford to pay a fine of 1,000-2,000 baht for illegal entry.

On Thursday, the Bangkok-based Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF) released a statement which called on the Thai government to delay deportation of the survivors to ensure that an investigation can be carried out “with transparency to address the problem of official corruption and involvement in human trafficking.”

Thai Interior Minister Chalerm Yubamrung denied that officials were involved in human smuggling and vowed to study US policies to find a solution to the problem of illegal migration.

However, the supreme commander of the Thai army, Gen Bunsarng Niumpradit, acknowledged that it was difficult to prevent illegal entry because human trafficking rings have various ways of smuggling people into the country and many are also well-connected to influential local figures, according to a report in the Thai newspaper Matichon on Friday.

Meanwhile, police continue their search for the truck driver who is suspected of being responsible for the incident. Police have already issued a warrant for the arrest of the owner of the container truck.