Myanmar workers infected with Covid-19 have returned from Laos.

[ASEAN NOW]

 

A total of 2,132 migrant laborers have been deported from Laos' Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (SEZ), with a minor proportion of them testing positive for Covid-19.

 

The migrant workers returned from Laos via Tarchileik Township between July 30 and August 24, according to eleven Myanmar reports.

 

196 of the 2,132 people who returned tested positive for Covid-19 and were allowed to return to Myanmar under Myanmar's Covid-19 rules.

 

Since August 1, the Tarchileik Township Covid-19 Prevention, Control, and Treatment Committee has conducted medical examinations and Covid testing on 2,132 Myanmar migrant laborers, identifying 196 infected with the coronavirus.

 

The infected patients have been transported to Tarchileik Township's Wunlon Quarantine Center, while the remaining staff will return to their homes.

 

Unrest in the Special Economic Zone

 

Hundreds of Myanmar laborers protested in the SEZ in early August, motivated by unemployment and dissatisfaction with Covid-19 prevention and control measures implemented during the SEZ's closure.

 

Authorities in the SEZ mediated with the protestors, resulting in talks between the governments of Laos and Myanmar to find a solution for the employees' repatriation.

 

According to Eleven Myanmar, thousands of Myanmar migrant laborers remain in the SEZ but will be repatriated soon.