Population
Migration
Thai authorities detain Lao women who illegally entered the country as sex workers
Thai authorities have detained 43 Lao women, some of whom appear underage, for illegally entering the country to work in the sex trade just two days after the Lao parliament passed an anti-human trafficking law to ensure protection for victims and punishments for perpetrators. Passed on ...
Trusted recruiters, friends leading domestic migrants to abuse: ILO report
The Myanmar government’s labour recruitment offices are failing, leaving workers to scrounge for jobs through informal networks rife with opportunistic brokers, according to a new report. In the absence of a functioning, official employment system, the vast majority of over 7000 workers interviewed – 72 percent ...
More Montagnards opt to return home
More Montagnard asylum seekers are planning to return to home amid cuts in United Nations-provided food rations. Vivian Tan, regional spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said more than 10 indigenous Christian Montagnards had requested assistance in returning to Vietnam. She said the group had decided ...
Shrimp peeled by slaves in Thailand
Pervasive human trafficking has helped turn Thailand into one of the world’s biggest shrimp providers. Despite repeated promises by businesses and government to clean up the country’s US$7 billion seafood export industry, an Associated Press investigation has found shrimp peeled by modern-day slaves is reaching ...
Packed cities, empty villages: Vietnam's migration dilemma
When Vu Thi Linh moved her family from their spacious rural home to a tiny rented room in Hanoi, she hoped her children would be able to get the education she never had. The Linhs are among hundreds of thousands of people moving to Vietnam’s bulging ...
Malaysia maid pipeline resumes
Cambodia has signed a long-anticipated agreement to resume the legal flow of domestic workers to Malaysia, putting an end to a ban introduced more than four years ago amid reports of serious migrant abuses, which had led to multiple deaths. A statement released on 10 December evening ...
Blacklist awaits foreigners overstaying visas in Thailand
The Immigration Bureau plans to fine and blacklist foreigners who overstay their visas from March or April next year. Bureau chief Pol Lt Gen Nathathorn Prausoontorn said on 9 December that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had approved the bureau’s proposal on Nov 27 to fine and ban ...
Migrant rights group presses government on stalled registration
A migrant rights network has appealed to the Myanmar and Thai governments to reach a solution on a worker registration standoff, and to take steps to alleviate the exploitation of workers by brokers. The call comes as the two sides prepare to meet in Thailand on ...
Last group of rescued migrants in limbo
Bangladesh and Myanmar remain at odds over 28 people who were among more than 900 rescued at sea in May, after being abandoned by human traffickers. Following the repatriation of 48 Bangladeshi nationals on 2 December, the Bangladesh embassy in Yangon said in a statement that ...
Workers in Thailand get temporary labour permits
Vietnamese migrant workers in Thailand are allowed to register for temporary work permits at the country’s provincial labour departments from 1-30 December, according to the Thai Ministry of Labour. The ministry said on 30 November that the 30-day expansion for Vietnamese guest workers (excluding their companies) aims ...