Authorities discuss issues of Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand

BANGKOK, July 22 (TNA) - Thai and Myanmar authorities have discussed issues related to Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand. Thai Permanent Secretary for Labor Jirasuk Sugandhajati and other executives of the Ministry of Labor met Myanmar Ambassador to Thailand U Win Maung in Bangkok on Tuesday morning, during which they discussed the issue of nationality verification for Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand, acknowledging if the task is not finished within two months, they will seek an official approval of its extended timeframe. The Myanmar side said Myanmar authorities will divide Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand into two groups, including those with and without complete documents to enable Thai authorities to speed up the nationality verification of the Myanmar migrant workers. Besides, both sides agreed to form a 10-member working group tasked with collecting information on migrant workers right at their places, as some of them are uneducated and cannot complete written forms. Meanwhile, Commanding General of the Fourth Army Area Command Lieutenant General Walit Rojanapakdi inspected a newly-opened one-stop service center for migrant workers in Ranong Province in the Thai South, where about 20,000 migrant workers were waiting for their legal registrations although the facility can serve 600 migrant workers a day. All the migrant workers crowding the newly-opened center in Ranong are Myanmar nationals. In nearby Krabi Province, local employers also brought a large number of migrant workers for legal registrations at a one-stop service center at the provincial government complex, also a newly-opened one. A latest survey found that more than 4,300 migrant workers have not yet been registered in Krabi, most of them are Myanmar and Cambodian nationals. (TNA)