Shortages may drive Burmese refugees to seek work

A consortium of non-government groups operating inside the camps is making an emergency appeal for an additional US$7.5 million (Bt237 million) to supply food to the refugees.

Sally Thompson, deputy director of Thailand's Burma Border Consortium, an alliance of non-government organisations, said the consortium recently sent an emergency appeal to every international donor asking them to provide additional financial support on top of the $16 million annual budget to provide food supplies for the nine camps.

She said the consortium had received a "positive response" from the Netherlands and Ireland.

Thompson said if the camps could not get the additional budget by July, the refugee camp administrators may have to cut food portions to the refugees due to budget constraints.

Otherwise, she said the Thai government may have to consider allowing the refugees to work outside the camps to earn a living.

Thompson noted that former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra once said the refugees should not stay idle, but current Thai government policy towards the refugees remained unchanged: the refugees are not allowed to work outside the camps.

A number of Burmese migrants have become illegal workers due to hardship. The recent tragedy where more than 50 Burmese workers were suffocated while being transported by a container truck was an example of the many hardships Burmese migrants have to face, said Jackie Pollack, of the Migrants Assistance Programme.

Pollack said she expected the labour issue to come up during the discussion between Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and his Burmese counterpart this week. Burmese workers have the right to complain about unfair treatment because Thai labour law protects the rights of all workers, regardless of their nationalities, she said.