Boosting the signal:
Helping migrant workers from Myanmar in Thailand
More than 80 per cent of migrant workers in Thailand are from Myanmar. A
community radio has caught their ear helping them to understand Thailand's
immigration laws and advocating for their rights at work.
25 June 2012
CHIANG MAI, Thailand – When Aung San Suu Kyi addressed delegates at the 101st
session of the International Labour Conference on 14 June, she also referred to
the two million people from Myanmar who have crossed the border into Thailand
in search of work.
The Chairperson of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Myanmar said that
both Thailand and Myanmar had “no clear migration policy”, with the result that
“migrant workers are still facing frequent and significant rights violations
because neither Burma nor Thailand has adopted a rights-based approach to
managing migration”.
Earning little more than US$6 per day on average, many Burmese migrant workers
find themselves caught up in a bewildering and relatively costly system of
rules and procedures, written in a language they don’t understand. And there
are few places to turn if they encounter any problems.
MAP Radio with its weekly show “Voices without borders” is one of these places.
The broadcast goes out each Monday morning on community FM radio in Chiang Mai and nearby Mae Sot – another area with a high concentration of migrant workers
from Myanmar.
Supported by the ILO’s TRIANGLE Project (Tripartite Action to Protect Migrants
within and from the Greater Mekong Sub-region from Exploitation) and AusAID,
the Australian Government’s Aid Programme, the radio show is one of several
produced by the MAP Foundation, an NGO based in Chiang Mai.
The programme has a loyal following, particularly as it is broadcast in Shan,
the local language of many of the migrant workers. As a phone-in show it is
dedicated to helping migrant workers understand Thailand’s immigration laws and
advocating for rights at work. Thousands of migrant workers either tune in to
the live broadcast each week or, if they have any access to the Internet,
download the programmes.
“Many migrant workers call into this radio programme,” explains Ying Horm, the
presenter of “Voices without borders”. “They discuss the difficulties they face
and they share a lot of information – they also ask lots of questions.”
Most of those who listen to Ying Horm each Monday morning are either labourers
or domestic workers who find it easier to take part in the phone-in segment.
Most have stories to tell about contract violations or questions to ask about
procedures for work permits. Those with serious grievances and contract
violations are directed to a paralegal working with the programme, to review
and pursue claims off the air.
The coordinator of the MAP Foundation, Jackie Pollock, says “Voices Without
Borders” and the other radio programmes provide a space for migrants to
communicate with each other openly.
“For years many migrants have lived in hiding and when they do venture out they
are often afraid to speak their language in public,” she says, referring to the
fact that many migrants are not fully documented to work in Thailand and could
face harassment, arrest and deportation.
She adds that the radio programmes are “particularly important for domestic
workers who listen (via the FM receivers) on their mobile phones”.
On a building site near Chiang Mai University, one of the workers called Mung
says: “I’ve learned about my rights at work and important things like updating
my passport. So it’s been very useful to me.”
“This radio programme has been a critical part of informing and protecting
migrant workers,” says Kuanruthai Siripatthanakosol, the ILO’s national project
coordinator for the TRIANGLE Project in Thailand. She adds that representatives
of the government and social partners in other cities in Thailand – and in
neighbouring countries – have expressed an interest in replicating this type of
outreach.
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Allan Dow works for the Regional Unit for Partnerships in the ILO Regional
Office for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok.
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