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Posted : Tue, 18 Dec
2007 06:20:02 GMT |
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Author : DPA |
Bangkok -
Thailand's estimated 1.8 million migrant workers earned 2 billion dollars in
wages last year but may have contributed 11 billion dollars, or 6.2 per cent,
to the gross domestic product, the International Labour
Organization (ILO) revealed Tuesday. According to the ILO report - Thailand
Economic Contribution of Migrant Workers - the kingdom is getting a better deal
off its migrant workers than it is giving them.
"If migrants
are as productive as Thai workers in each sector, their total contribution to
output should be in the order of 11 billion dollars or about 6.2 per cent of
Thailand's GDP," said Manola Abella,
the ILO's chief technical advisor in Thailand,
summing up the report's findings.
The total number
of migrants in Thailand rose from about 700,000 in 1995 to 1.8 million in 2006,
according to the report.
Last year about 75
per cent of the migrant labourers came from neighbouring Myanmar, also called Burma, who now represent 5 per cent of Thailand's total labour
force of 36 million.
The remainder came
from Laos and Cambodia, Thailand's neighbours to the
north and east.
Thailand has been
registering migrant workers since 1992, but many stay unregistered to avoid the
relatively expensive and time-consuming process.
In 1995, some 45
per cent of the estimated 700,000 migrants were registered, while only 26 per
cent of the 1.8 million were registered last year.
Migrant labourers are limited to certain sectors such as
agriculture, fisheries, construction and as domestics. Nearly half of
Thailand's domestics are now believed to migrants, said the ILO report.
It found that
migrants, on average, earn about half the minium wage
and are not eligible for state services such as medical care and education for
their children.
"What worries
the ILO is that migrants are not receiving equal treatment," said Abella.
The
ILO called on the Thai government to abide by fundamental principles is
dealing with their migrant labour
and to make procedures flexible.
"If the government were to acknowledge that the Thai economy is likely to continue to employ migrants over the medium term, create mechanisms to involve social partners in development of a transparent migrant policy, and promote cooperation with migrant countries of origin, Thailand could reap the benefits of migration while protecting the rights of migrants in Thailand," concluded the report.
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