CNI News
14 Oct 2022
The Thai government urged the Department of Labour of Myanmar to issue certificates of identity to Myanmar workers who have received pink IDs (temporary work permits) in Thailand.
Thai labour officials made the request to Myanmar counterparts during a meeting in Bangkok on 6th October, Director U Thurein Lin of the Department of Labour told the CNI.
He told the CNI, “Thailand issued pink cards for illegal workers from Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia in 2020, 2021 and 2022. It is now currently issuing pink cards or temporary work permits. Thai officials requested us to issue CIs for Myanmar workers who received pink cards in 2021. We are preparing to issue CIs for them. Pink card holders are allowed to travel within a province. If they have CIs, they can travel in the entire Thailand.”
A CI centre.
CIs are valid four years and officials are still discussing when the CIs will be issued. Centres have been set up to renew CIs.
It costs Myanmar migrant workers a large sum of money to apply for pink cards and now they will have to pay about Baht 10,000 to get CIs again, Ko Thar Gyi, a labour activist for Myanmar workers in Thailand, told the CNI.
He said, “Thailand has issued pink cards for them. Each of them had to pay about Baht 15,000 for the pink card. CIs are not passports and they are just identity cards for pink card holders. So, CIs should be issued at a cost of less than Baht 1,000. It now costs too much for them. Some workers want to apply for CIs but they are required to travel to other provinces and it costs a lot of money. Moreover, it is found that CI centres are set up in safe places and there are only a few CI centres.”
Migrant workers apply for CI.
More CI centres should be opened to enable workers to get CIs, according to labour activists.
There are millions of Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand and some of them are working in Thailand illegally.
Authorities in Thailand are issuing pink cards for migrant workers and more than 400,000 Myanmar workers have received the cards.
