Legislation

Burmese migrant workers in Thailand fear new immigration and work permit procedures will make life harder for them and their families back home. Thai authorities say the new procedures will curb illegal migration but rights activists say the measures threaten the migrants' security.

The Thai cabinet has recently ordered migrant workers to verify their nationality to qualify for work permits.

The new guidelines cover over one million legal Burmese migrant workers in Thailand, as well as more than 200,000 workers from Laos and Cambodia.

The Canadian Council for Refugees has made public its concerns at the dramatic shift towards temporary migration in recent years. This shift represents an important policy change, but it has taken place largely without public debate. The CCR’s comments on the proposed amendments are made in the context of concerns over the particular vulnerability of workers on temporary visas and the broad impacts on Canadian society of expanding the temporary migration program.

The CCR's comments are available here.

The proposed mandatory insurance for all overseas Filipino workers will benefit recruiters principally and OFWs only incidentally, the Center for Migrants Advocacy said Monday, opposing a move in Congress to legislate it.

The proposal, which is contained in the proposed law to amend the Migrant Workers Act or Republic Act 8042, is expected to be tackled at the bicameral conference committee meeting on Wednesday.

Justicia for Migrant Workers strongly condemns the proposed regulations introduced by the Federal Conservatives to ‘protect’ temporary foreign workers. These regulations continue the mean spirited approach of persecuting workers rather than addressing the structural mechanisms that deny migrant workers the ability to exert rights.