Migrant workers given flood refuge

The Nation October 24, 2011 8:00 am

A shelter has been set up in a temple just west of Bangkok for migrant workers affected by the floods.

The government has designated RaiKhing Temple in Nakhon Pathom an evacuation centre for Burmese workers to try to prevent more from heading home because of the crisis, which has forced of thousands of factories to shut down.

With industrial estates in Ayutthaya, Nakhon Sawan and northern Bangkok swamped and many factories closed, tens of thousands of Burmese have returned home after being temporarily left without work.

The move yesterday to set up the shelter follows comments by the Lawyers Council of Thailand, which said migrant workers had been turned away from evacuation centres set up for people and workers displaced by the floods.

The announcement came on the same day that more than 2,000 Burmese hired trucks to take them from Pathum Thani, just north of the capital, back to Mae Sot, from where they will cross back to their homeland.

Government officials have said they would prefer registered Burmese workers to remain and would find work for them instead of having them return home.

More info: call 08 98141584 Anurat at Ministry of Labour.

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