Laos and Myanmar are negotiating the return of Burmese SEZ workers.

[ASEAN NOW]

 

Laos and Myanmar are in talks about repatriating Burmese workers from the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone.

According to the Bokeo Newspaper, officials from Bokeo Province in Laos met with colleagues from Tachilek Province in Myanmar to try to mediate the situation after laborers staged protests in the SEZ earlier this week.

 

During the discussions, Mr. Kheunphet Vongchan, the Deputy Provincial Governor of Bokeo, stated that laborers from Myanmar working in the SEZ had the same rights as Lao citizens, notably in terms of housing, healthcare, social welfare, and other programs.

 

“The second wave of Covid-19 has hit Laos, with several enterprises and industries in the SEZ going down, leaving many workers jobless and experiencing hardship,” Mr. Kheunphet said.

 

Mr. Khuenphet also revealed that hundreds of Myanmar laborers staged a protest in the SEZ last week, prompted by unemployment and dissatisfaction with Covid-19 prevention and control measures implemented during the SEZ's lockdown.

 

Mr. Kheunphet continued, "The workers demanded that they be permitted to return to their home country and refused to comply with the Covid-19 prevention and control procedures, including the Coronavirus tests and 14-day quarantine requirement before leaving Laos."

 

Both parties have committed to increase their collaboration and ensure that Myanmar workers continue to follow the Lao government's Covid guidelines.

 

Myanmar laborers, both legitimate and illegal, will be allowed to return home in the meanwhile.

 

They will leave the SEZ in batches of 200 and return to Myanmar.