Proposed Plan For Pregnant Migrant Workers Misguided: Thailand

[webfact]

MIGRATION

Proposed plan for pregnant migrant workers misguided

Henry Lewis

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Non-governmental organisations and the academia yesterday spoke up against the Labour Ministry's plan to deport migrant workers who get pregnant while in Thailand.

The ministry initiated this policy as a response to Thailand's inclusion, for the third consecutive year, in the United States' Tier 2 watchlist for countries with human-trafficking issues in its annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report.

The three speakers at the forum all agreed that the ministry's plan would not provide a longterm solution.

The speakers were Tatiya Likitwong, coordinator of the Foundation for Child Development; Kritaya Archavanitkul, professor for the Institute for Population and Social Research at Mahidol University; and Tatsanai Kantayaporn, representative of the Programmes for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH).

The discussion was held yesterday at the Thai Journalist Association Headquarters.

"This law splits up families, forcing stable couples in Thailand to stay apart for at least six months," Tatiya said. "Then, if the children are left behind with relatives in their home countries, they grow up without proper resources and end up causing more problems in the future by either getting trafficked or working as traffickers.

"This policy is championed as an effective way to fight child labour, but there are much better ways than this one, like the Education Ministry's recently drafted plan allowing any child, regardless of their citizenship or legal status, to go to school."

Kritaya, meanwhile, talked about the danger of making more migrants cross Thai borders, even if it is to their own home country.

"This policy promotes the crossing of the border, so pregnant mothers will return to Thailand after delivering their baby at home. Research shows that people crossing the border have a lot to do with human trafficking. Hence, when a young woman crosses the border with a baby, claiming it is hers, it is very difficult to verify if she is really the mother."

Tatsanai also questioned the plan's appropriateness as a response to the TIP report. "Responding to the report is important because there are economic and political ramifications for a nation to be considered a humantrafficking centre, but - as far as I can remember - there is only one mention of childlabour in the report."

-- The Nation 2012-07-06

[slapout]

It is too bad the Thai government cannot be comprised of individuals who look at the big picture prior to implimenting some half arse plan of their own. I have not heard or read of any organizition that supported this plan, and those that disagree with it have been kind enough to point out its faults.

One thing that does seem to be present in the present government is a majority of positions, filled by party list or appointees, is a complete lack of creditional vetting, prior to rewarding the incompintents.

[noitom]

They keep trying to lay this out as an effort to "cut child labor" so as to try to get Thailand off the watch list. They fail to recognize the basic fundamental - that it is a racist , racial cleansing policy. They want to avoid creating immigrant child citizens by being born in Thailand. They don't realize with all their puff and bluster that this is obvious to world leaders. The more they keep on with this preposterous policy drive, the longer they will be viewed as prime watch list subject matter.

[Felt 35]

This is just to dumb.

[steveyinasia]

Dont knock the governments misguided plans, its the only ones they have got.

[brianP]

Send them to US where all illegal moms to be get a free birth. They just have to be catholic and democrats, and spit out lots more babies.

[webfact]

Thai pregnant migrant worker plan slammed

BANGKOK, July 6, 2012 (AFP) - Thai government proposals to deport pregnant migrant workers will heighten discrimination rather than boost the fight against human trafficking, Human Rights Watch said Friday.

Thailand's Labour Ministry recently proposed expelling migrant workers, believing they will receive better care in their own countries.

The rights group said the measure was floated in response to the US State Department's recent classification of Thailand in "Tier 2" of its watch list, a status for countries demonstrating poor efforts to stamp out human trafficking.

"It's an idea to send them back home because they can receive better care while they are pregnant so that mothers will not have health problems," Somkiat Chayasriwong, permanent secretary to the Labour Ministry, told AFP.

"We have set up committee to study in detail how to take care pregnant migrant workers at this stage," he added.

But the proposal has provoked fury among rights groups who decry the scheme's potential to worsen the lot of migrants, while simultaneously failing to tackle the root causes of people trafficking.

"The labour minister's plan has nothing to do with stopping human trafficking but will cause further discrimination against women migrant workers," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

"Prime Minister Yingluck should immediately direct the Labor Ministry to drop this unlawful and thoroughly bad idea."

If it is sincere about tackling the trafficking scourge, Thailand should ensure the children of migrants go to school while cracking down on government officials and labour recruiters who hire victims, he added.

Last month's State Department report criticised Thailand for failing to respond to trafficking -- mostly from neighbouring countries -- into work as forced prostitutes, beggars and labourers in fishing industry and factories.

The report highlighted Thailand's failure to identify and protect victims adding "the government has not shown evidence of increasing efforts to address human trafficking" compared to 2011.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2012-07-06

[animatic]

They are so worried about losing face, or losing face by not acting nationalistic enough, and then they say something utterly hair-brained like this, and don't even realize how much face it loses for them.

No folks getting MORE racist against pregnant women

is NOT going to win you points about anti-slavery trafficking.

Edited July 6, 2012 by animatic