Thailand
Thailand agrees to renew permits for 40,000 Cambodian workers
Thailand has agreed to extend the work permit of nearly 40,000 Cambodian migrant workers, bringing relief to their families.
Media reports from Thailand said yesterday that the Labour Department officials of both countries came to an agreement to facilitate the renewal of the work permits of the migrant workers. The workers will be allowed to apply for the renewal online to make the process speedier and also hassle-free.
Quoting Pairoj Chotikasathien, the Director-General of Thailand’s Department of Employment, Bangkok Post, said the workers will also be exempted from the usual requirement of waiting a minimum of 30 days after the expiry of work permits for making an application for renewal.
According to the report, these work permits as per a current MoU for four years are expiring between January last year and coming July 31. The new agreement between the two countries would help the migrant workers who are still in Thailand to remain in the country and those who returned to Cambodia could now go back.
The Thailand side also requested the Cambodian counterparts to speed up certifying the documents containing the personal information of the workers for the renewal. The new agreement followed the Thai Cabinet’s earlier decision to renew the permits of nearly 200,000 migrant workers.
It is learnt that the Cambodian side asked for a reduction in the visa fee from the current 2,000 baht to 500 baht per application. The request would be sent to the approval of the new Cabinet of Thailand.
The agreement followed reports that Thailand is facing a severe labour shortage, especially in tourism, service, construction, real estate and food processing. These labour-oriented sectors are said to be crucial for the country’s post-pandemic economic revival and growth.
According to Cambodia’s Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MLVT), out of the 1.3 million workers who migrated from the country, 1.2 million are working in neighbouring Thailand, earning an average of $400 monthly.
It is also estimated that there are 49,000 Cambodian migrant workers in South Korea, 22,000 in Malaysia and 19,000 in Japan. These workers are reportedly paid average monthly wages of $1,500 in South Korea, about $1,400 in Japan and around $300 in Malaysia.
Ith Samheng, the Minister for Labour and Vocational Training, recently said that the migrant workers sent home remittances of nearly $2.7 billion a year, a significant contribution to the Kingdom’s economy. The ministry, on its part, he added, ensures that the workers get social security benefits in each of these countries.
The Labour Migration Policy of Cambodia 2019-2023 and related legal standards aim to protect and promote the rights and interests of workers, including when they return home.
The policy outlines the government’s commitment to leveraging the benefits of labour migration for the country’s long-term development. Also, the free movement of labour is one of the core elements of the ASEAN Economic Community’s (AEC) single market and production base.
Meanwhile, the Thailand Migration Report 2019 estimated that the country hosts about 4.9 million non-Thai residents, with some 3.9 million being documented and undocumented workers from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501314077/thailand-agrees-to-renew-permits-for-40000-cambodian-workers/