Govt suggested to update number of immigrant child labour to find a right solution

BANGKOK, 13 June 2015 (NNT) - An independent scholar for labour affairs, Miss Taneeya Rungcharoen, suggested that the Labour Ministry find the exact number of child immigrants in order to solve the child labour problem at its root.

She said that two years ago there were around 350,000 migrant children aged under 18 in Thailand. However, a recent registration of migrant workers by the Labour Ministry showed a total of 90,000 children were registered as dependants of the migrant workers.

Despite the official record, figures and statistics on migrant children remain unclear. Miss Taneeya urged the Labour Ministry to cooperate with other government units such as the National Statistical Office, the Local Administrative Organizations, and the International Labour Organization (ILO), to conduct a survey on the clear-cut number of migrant children in each province, separating the data of those legally employed from those working illegally, in order to draw a conclusion to the situation of migrant children in Thailand.

She also advised the Thai government to talk to its counterparts in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, asking them not to allow their child workforce to come to Thailand to prevent them from being exploited.

Taneeya emphasized that migrant children born in Thailand should be considered as population of ASEAN. As their parents have contributed to Thailand’s economic growth, the Thai government should grant them birth certificates and give them education for their own future no matter whether they would settle in Thailand or return home in the future.


-- NNT 2015-06-13

Wouldn't an accurate approximation do? How does knowing if the exact number is 43,277 or 43,278 help solve the problem?