Stop deportation of Muslim fishermen to Myanmar, fishermen tell minister

By The Nation

 

FILE photo

 

The president of the Songkhla Fishing Association on Wednesday called on the labour minister to find a way to prevent 370 Muslim workers from Myamnar from being deportated.
 

Suradej Nil-ubol, president of the fishing association, said the 370 fishing workers have been registered and have a "sea book", allowing them to work on Thai fishing boats.

 

They are capable fishing crew members but are due to be deported by the end of next month for having no passports, he said.

 

But passports were denied them by Myanmar authorities staffing the One Stop Service in Songkhla, he said. Officials declined to issue passports for the 370 Myanmar workers on the grounds that they are Muslims.

 

The Myanmar officials cited a Myanmar policy excluding Muslims from receiving passports, Suradej said.

 

Under Thai policy, all documented migrants must have their nationality verified and hold passports.

 

Without them, the 370 Muslim fishermen would be sent back home at the end of September to get passports before being allowed to work, said Suradej.

 

That would be a big loss for the Songkhla fishing industry, which has a need for the 370 experienced crewmen, he said.

 

The workers have been registered with the Thai authorities and carry migrant identification cards issued by the Thai authorities, said Suradej.

 

The Labour Ministry should find a special solution for this group of workers, and ensure they are able to work in the industry, which is suffering from a staff shortage, he said.

 

"I beg the governemnt to find a solution for this group of workers so that they can remain working in Thailand," Suradej said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30352696

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-08-22

Why were they allowed in the country if they didn't have a Passport in the first place? 

4 hours ago, digger70 said:

Why were they allowed in the country if they didn't have a Passport in the first place? 

Who says they were allowed in?

Clearly illegal immigrants without papers.

Stateless people.

13 hours ago, digger70 said:

Why were they allowed in the country if they didn't have a Passport in the first place? 

It's what the majority Myanmar Buddhists would want.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Muslims_in_Myanmar

Don't worry there's plenty of young,strong,willing and able Thais wanting a job.????

if the one stop service refused them passports then wouldn't they also be refused in myanmar. strange situation but to lose 370 experienced fishermen like that is bound to have a serious affect on the local songkhla fishing industry, at least in the short term

Why do they just employ Muslims, does that mean i can employ just Hindus, Buddhists, Christians or Evolutionists, this sets a dangerous precedent for a budding meritocracy.

On 8/22/2018 at 2:15 PM, webfact said:

That would be a big loss for the Songkhla fishing industry, which has a need for the 370 experienced crewmen

I bet, they'll have to double the salary if they have to hire Thai people.

One can hope for less fishing , this is good news.just look at how well fisherman take care of the enviornment in this picture.

 Its s toxic waste dump.

 

 

 

On 8/23/2018 at 2:16 AM, happy chappie said:

Don't worry there's plenty of young,strong,willing and able Thais wanting a job.

That may be true but do they want to work and if so do they not want to work on fishing vessels?  If there are that many "...young, strong,willing, and able Thais" looking for employment, the question should be, "Why have they not rushed to fill the many empty positions before now?"

 

'nuf sed