Thousands Of Myanmar Migrants - Forgotten Victims

Thousands of Myanmar migrants are the forgotten tsunami victims

BANGKOK: -- Thai survivors of Asia's tsunami disaster have complained they are second-class victims, with foreign tourists getting the best care. Now aid officials say a third class of victims in Thailand has emerged: migrant workers from Myanmar.

Thousands of laborers from impoverished Myanmar, also known as Burma, were living in the resort area of Phang Nga at the time of the catastrophe after crossing the Thai border for better-paying jobs on construction sites and fishing boats. But aid workers say little is known about what happened to many of them.

"There has been no publicity at all about Burmese workers. They have been totally forgotten,'' said Somyos Leetrakul of World Vision, a group that works with migrants, as he traveled deep into forested hills to assist surviving migrant workers.

More than 5,000 people were killed in Thailand in the catastrophe, and officials say the death toll could reach 8,000. The brunt of the disaster was suffered in Phang Nga and the resort island of Phuket, which is popular with foreign tourists.

Myanmar migrants, many of them illegal, were particularly vulnerable, aid officials say.

Many of the workers were living in flimsy, makeshift shelters near construction sites, while fishing crews mostly lived in Ban Nam Khem, an impoverished village of more than 5,000 people which was completely destroyed by the tsunami.

Officials are unclear about how many Myanmar citizens were in the area or how many have died.

A total of 5,139 workers from Myanmar were registered with the Labor Ministry, but many others, particularly those here illegally, were not. So far there are no confirmed Myanmar citizens counted among the dead.

Somyos said he and a colleague have found 500 migrant workers from Myanmar living in the hills in deep, forest-like rubber plantations -- with little outside assistance -- after fleeing the waves.

"When the water washed up the beach, they ran away. Some of them ran away deeply into the forest,'' Somyos said.

"We have to help stitch their wounds because there are not enough doctors,'' he said.

Somyos said he feared infectious diseases could spread among the migrants, who are living without clean water or toilets.

"They urgently need food and water. We will bring 600 packages of assistance to distribute to the workers today,'' he said Monday.

Dr. Pornlert Chanruang, director of the Takuapa Hospital, said that out of 1,500 people who have received treatment from the hospital, 65 are from Myanmar.

Chuwong Saengkhong, an aid worker in the adjacent province of Ranong, said some 600 workers from Myanmar had contacted immigration officials in the province in a bid to return home.

"They are terrified and want to go home,'' he said.

The workers told him that many of their fellows died, including children.

Thailand, however, would face problems if all the survivors from Myanmar left, he said. Almost all the laborers in the affected areas are from Myanmar, and their departure would hobble reconstruction, he said.

--AP 2005-01-03