Thailand to legalize undocumented workers, children from four countries

It is included in three points agreed by the Thai Cabinet Ministers meeting on September 24 held at the request of the Foreign Workers Management Committee.

The three points that the Thai government agreed to be the undocumented citizens of Myanmar, Laos, Cambodian and Vietnamese citizens to register as new workers and allow their accompanying children under 18 to stay legally in Thailand. For workers whose permits will expire on February 13, 2025 (jointly under the MoU system), the duration of each residence and work permit will be extended twice from two years to four years, and the period for changing jobs will be increased from one month previously to two months.

However, the committee said that the work permit period of seasonal migrant workers in the border areas and other requests were not successful. FED (Foundation for Education and Development) announced that it will be possible to extend the validity period only at the entry and exit point of the border once every three months.

Details of the cost of the new identity registration and the start of the registration process will be known only after the approval of the Thai Royal Palace and the announcement made by the authorities, the FED said.

Currently, Thai authorities are conducting random entry checks on Myanmar nationals who have entered illegally, and there are Myanmar workers who have been arrested.

During the 120-day plan to arrest illegal workers in Thailand, a total of 256,213 illegal migrant workers from Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, who came to work in Thailand, were arrested in a period between June 5 and September 19, according to the Thai Ministry of Labour.

Arrested illegal workers by country are 193,430 Myanmar workers, 39,736 Cambodian workers, 15,281 Lao workers, 162 Vietnamese workers and 7,604 workers from other countries.

Eleven Media

Asia News Network