BurmaNet News, October 16, 2009

[Editor]

October 16, 2009 Issue #3820


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar's Suu Kyi positive about sanctions meetings: lawyer
DPA: Myanmar opposition leader to appeal sentence at Supreme Court
Mizzima News: Ethnic groups grapple with election strategy
DVB: Two child soldiers facing execution

ON THE BORDER
AFP: Bangladesh reinforces Myanmar border: officials
IMNA: Burmese migrant workers harassed by gangs in Southern Thailand

REGIONAL
DVB: India urged to address human rights in Burma

INTERNATIONAL
DVB: Zarganar receives PEN/Pinter award

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: The NLD’s internal debate – Wai Moe
Bangkok Post: Migrants in a bind – Editorial



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

October 16, Agence France Presse
Myanmar's Suu Kyi positive about sanctions meetings: lawyer

Yangon – Myanmar's detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has said
her recent meetings about sanctions with diplomats and a junta minister
were positive, her lawyer told AFP Friday.

She held a rare meeting last Friday with top Western diplomats to discuss
sanctions imposed on the military-ruled nation, having earlier in the week
met twice with Aung Kyi, the official liaison between herself and the
junta.

The pair had not met since January 2008.

The meetings followed a letter she wrote to junta chief Than Shwe, which
offered suggestions on getting sanctions lifted, marking an easing of her
stance after years of advocating punitive measures against the ruling
generals.

"Daw Suu sees the meetings as positive and also she expects the meeting
process to be effective," her lawyer Nyan Win said, after meeting with the
opposition leader for an hour on Friday. "Daw" is a term of respect in
Myanmar.

The Nobel Peace Laureate wants to meet with diplomats again to get more
facts and figures about sanctions, Nyan Win said, adding that they would
not be releasing any more details of the talks for the moment.

On October 2, Suu Kyi's appeal against her extended house arrest was
rejected by judges, who upheld her August conviction over an incident in
which an American man swam uninvited to her lakeside house.

The guilty verdict for the frail 64-year-old, who has spent around 14 of
the past 20 years in detention, earned her an extra 18 months' house
arrest and provoked international outrage.

Nyan Win said they would now prepare a revision of the appeal to submit to
the Supreme Court, which they also discussed with Suu Kyi Friday.

The junta refused to let Suu Kyi take power after the country's last
elections in 1990, which her National League for Democracy (NLD) party won
by a landslide, leading Western countries to impose sanctions.

Her extended house arrest keeps her off the scene for elections promised
by the regime next year, adding to criticism that the polls are a sham
designed to legitimise the military regime's grip on power.

The US recently unveiled a major policy shift to re-engage the junta but
warned against lifting sanctions until progress is made towards democracy.

____________________________________

October 16, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Myanmar opposition leader to appeal sentence at Supreme Court

Yangon – Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday agreed to
allow defence lawyers to appeal to the Supreme Court against her recent
sentence to 18 months under house detention.

"We will appeal the case up to the Supreme Court level and are preparing
the appeal now," said Nyan Win, one of four attorneys in Suu Kyi's defence
team.


Nyan Win met with Suu Kyi Friday afternoon at her house-cum-prison in
Yangon, where she had spent 14 of the past 20 years under detention.

On October 2, the Yangon Division Court rejected Suu Kyi's appeal against
a lower court's verdict on August 11 that found her guilty of violating
the terms of her previous imprisonment by allowing US national John Yettaw
to swim to her house of detention, a family compound that sits on Inya
Lake.

Originally the Insein Prison Court sentenced Suu Kyi to three years in
jail, but the term was commuted to 18 months under house detention by
Myanmar's junta supremo Senior General Than Shwe.

The detention term is sufficient to keep Suu Kyi, who heads the National
League for Democracy (NLD) opposition party, out of the picture while the
junta stages a general election some time next year.

The election is expected to be neither free nor fair.

The NLD won the last election of 1990 buy a landslide, but was blocked
from assuming power by the military which has ruled Myanmar since 1962.
____________________________________

October 16, Mizzima News
Ethnic groups grapple with election strategy – Mungpi

New Delhi – Two exiled ethnic political organizations have expressed their
opposition against the Burmese military junta’s planned 2010 election,
saying it is aimed to rubber stamp the junta’s rule and does not guarantee
the rights of ethnics.

Hkanhpa Sadan, Joint Secretary of the Kachin National Organisation (KNO)
told Mizzima that his organization is not encouraging ethnic groups and
others to support the junta’s 2010 elections as it will not provide any
opportunity for change.

“It is a wrong conception to believe that this election can present even a
slight opening of opportunity for change,” Hkanhpa Sadan elaborated.

Similarly, the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), in an official
statement on Monday, rejected the junta’s 2010 election, saying the new
government elected out of the 2010 election would not act in the interests
of the people, instead serving to unquestioningly carry out the junta’s
will.

“The rights of the ethnic people for self-determination and protection of
our customs and culture will be further endangered by this so-called
Parliament,” the KNPP said.

The London-based KNO also urged the ethnic Kachin’s main group, Kachin
Independence Organisations (KIO), to uphold its oath to secure the Kachin
peoples’ rights, equality and self-determination.

The KIO, along with its armed wing the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), in
1962 took a historic oath at a meeting in Bhamo in northern Burma,
bordering China, committing to fight until Kachins gain their inherent
rights.

Hkanhpa Sadan said as the KIA took the oath, “We urged them to remain
committed and stop meeting the junta’s representatives under the banner of
negotiations for the transformation of the KIA into Border Guard Force.”

Burma’s military rulers have pressured ethnic ceasefire armed groups to
transform their armies into a junta administered Border Guard Force,
setting a deadline of this October for compliance.

The KIO, along with several armed groups such as the United Wa State Army
(UWSA), has thus far rejected the junta’s proposal, but continues to meet
Burma Army commanders, including Lt-Gen Ye Myint, Chief of Military
Affairs Security, and Northern Command commander Maj-Gen Soe Win.

“Altogether there have been 10 meetings between the KIO and the junta on
this issue, and we want the KIO to remain firm in a decision to stop the
meetings,” Hkanhpa Sadan emphasized.

The KIO’s spokesperson and Secretary, Dr. Laja, was not immediately
available for comment.

The KNO and KNPP are both members of the Ethnic Nationalities Council
(ENC), an umbrella organization representing ethnic nationalities in
Burma.

In late September, a letter sent by the ENC’s secretariat to US Senator
James Webb, a strong supporter of engagement with the Burmese regime,
caused confusion among Burmese opposition and ethnic groups, as the letter
said the ENC supports ethnic minorities in their participation in the 2010
elections, in order that ethnics have a voice in Burmese politics and play
a role in the future governance of the state.

The letter said while the ENC “in principle” does not accept the junta’s
2008 constitution and the upcoming 2010 election, ethnic nationalities are
nevertheless left with no choice that they will have to participate.

The letter also urged Webb not to condemn the election before it takes
place but to support potential ethnic candidates and prepare them by
educating them on elections and how to run for office.

The letter, however, was rejected by the Chairman of the ENC, who argued
he had no knowledge of the letter and that it thus does not represent the
ENC’s official policy.

Hkanhpa Sadan added that despite the letter, the KNO is committed to the
ENC and is abiding by the principles that it has adopted in their last
conference, which includes not accepting the 2010 election.

“The issue of the letter will be discussed in a future meeting, but I must
say it does not reflect the ENC’s policy,” Hkanhpa Sadan stated.

Similarly, the KNPP, in its statement, said as a representative of the
Karenni people it is fully committed to the ENC and “will comply with the
ENC's principles regarding the 2010 election, as formulated during its
last executive committee held on June 8 - 12, 2009.”

____________________________________

October 16, Democratic Voice of Burma
Two child soldiers facing execution – Nan Kham Kaew

Two child soldiers in Burma have been put on death row after being accused
of killing another child soldier during a fight, the sister of one of the
defendants said.

The family of 16-year-old Aung Ko Htway were not told about the incident,
which happened in Laogai, the capital of Burma’s northeastern Shan state,
for five months after the charges had been brought, said the sister.

“No one informed us about what happened to him,” she said. “We decided to
give his battalion a ring and they told us he was in prison for killing a
child.”

The victim is reportedly from a family with members in the pro-junta
Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA).

Both parents of Aung Ko Htway, a former Rangoon resident, are deceased. He
was abducted by the army and enlisted as a soldier in 2006 whilst waiting
at a railway station with friends, his sister said.

Aye Myint, a lawyer from the Guiding Star grassroots legal advocacy group,
said he will give assistance to the family to take the case to the
International Labour Organisaiton (ILO).

“According to [Burma’s] 1993 Child Law, a child should not be punishable
by death or an imprisonment exceeding 10 years of detention,” he said,
adding that authorities “have neglected this”.

Furthermore, he said, Aung Ko Htway was recruited as a child solider,
which is illegal under Burmese law.

A report recently complied by Guiding Star found that at least 107 child
soldiers were recruited by the army between May and August this year. Only
around 35 of these were sent home while the rest remain in the army.

He said it took time for the ILO to solve each cases because they have to
deal diplomatically with minister-level officials from the ruling State
Peace and Development Council.

The ILO is the only external body in Burma with a mandate to deal with
recruitment of child soldiers, which comes under the banner of forced
labour.

In June the ILO called for a revision of a section of Burma’s constitution
which appeared to justify the use of forced labour for “duties assigned by
the Union in accord with the law in the interest of the public”.

In the past two year the organisaiton has received more than 150
complaints of child labour, although it warns that risk of government
retribution against complainants means that many cases are not reported.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

October 16, Agence France Presse
Bangladesh reinforces Myanmar border: officials

Chittagong, Bangladesh — Bangladesh has reinforced its border with
Myanmar, sending 3,000 extra troops to the area, military officials said
Friday, amid new tensions over a disputed stretch of gas-rich sea.

Bangladesh announced last weekend it had gone on high alert over reports
Myanmar had boosted troops along its border with Bangladesh.

"We have sent an extra 3,000 troops" to the frontier area in the past
week, Colonel Didarul Alam Chowdhury, Chittagong sector commander of the
Bangladesh Rifles border force, told AFP.

"We are ready to resist any attacks or intrusion into our territory by
Myanmar forces," he said.

Dhaka said earlier this month it had asked a UN tribunal to resolve the
decades-old row with neighbours Myanmar and India over territorial
boundaries in the Bay of Bengal, which holds significant hydrocarbon
reserves.

"We have offered to hold talks as we want to settle the border issues with
Myanmar amicably to avert any confrontation," Chowdhury added.

Bangladesh Armed Forces Division Brigadier General Abidus Samad confirmed
the troop deployment.

"We've sent 3,000 troops to strengthen our position," Samad told AFP.

It was not immediately known how many soldiers were already assigned to
the border area.

Dhaka's Foreign Minister Dipu Moni denied earlier on Friday any tension
along the border.

She issued a statement saying she met with her counterpart from Myanmar,
Nyan Win, on the sidelines of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue in the Sri
Lankan capital earlier in the week.

"Regarding recent media reporting on troops movement along the
Bangladesh-Myanmar border, the Myanmar Foreign Minister stated that no
such event has taken place and these (are a) routine exercise by their
border security force," the Bangladesh statement said.

____________________________________

October 16, Independent Mon News Agency
Burmese migrant workers harassed by gangs in Southern Thailand – Tala Lawi

Incidents of Thai gangs harassing and robbing Burmese migrant workers in
Southern Thailand are on the rise, claim several migrant workers
interviewed by IMNA.

A Mon migrant worker, employed at a rural rubber plantation in Hat Yai
district in Trang Province in Southern Thailand, reported to IMNA that on
October 11, he and his wife were robbed of by a gang of three Thai
teenagers. The gang stole 440 baht and a cell phone.

Nai Myint Aung, aged 30, informed IMNA that he and eight of his friends
are already paying 50 baht per month to a different Thai gang, and have
been doing so for the past eight months. Nai Myint Aung told IMNA that if
he or his friends fail to pay the monthly extortion fee, the gang follows
them back to their homes and harasses their families.

Nai Myint Aung reported to IMNA that on the afternoon of October 11th at
2pm he left his boss’s home, where he had received his paycheck of 7000
baht, and entered the local market. The gang of Thai teenagers followed
him from the marketplace to his neighborhood. Nai Myint Aung claimed that
the gang stopped his motorbike and seized his wife who accompanied him,
threatening the pair with a knife. The gang then searched his wife’s body
and stole 440 baht and her cellular phone.

A Thai neighbor of the pair, a-35 year-old man, saw the Nai Myint Aung and
his wife being attacked, and phoned the police, causing the gang to
scatter. Nai Myint Aung reported to IMNA that his wife had luckily had the
foresight to stow his paycheck in her brassiere, and thus the pair managed
to escape the attack without losing the 7000 baht he’d just received.

Nai Myint Aung claimed to IMNA that he fears that the gang will continue
to cause problems for his family, as the group likely remembers his
motorbike number. His Thai neighbor, who came to his rescue the day of his
attack, allegedly urged him to report the incident to the police, but Nai
Mynit Aung says he fears that reporting the gang to the Thai police will
only result in more violence. Reportedly, his fellow workers at the rubber
plantation where he is employed have heard rumors of a Thai gang killing a
family in the area who reported them to the authorities, and he does not
want his family to meet a similar fate.

Mi Hlaing, Nai Myint Aung’s wife, told IMNA, “The Thai gangs know that
most of the Mon migrant workers go to the market [once a week] to buy
goods. That’s why the gangs perform a robbery every week on the way [to
the market].”

Mi Hlaing added that she and her family previously lived in Thailand’s
Phanga Province, but that after an incident 2 months ago where a
50-year-old Thai man attempted to rape her, she and her husband decided to
move to the Hat Yai area.

A Mon worker named Mi Mee, from Pattaya, also in Southern Thailand, claims
that during the last ten days, Thai gangs have stolen a gold necklace,
2000 baht, and three mobile phones from migrant workers in the Pattya
area; the rape of a migrant woman in the area has also been attributed to
gang activity.

Mi Mee explained to IMNA that migrant workers in Southern Thailand feel
that they must face the abuse of Thai gangs in the area with patience,
because the Burmese workers need their jobs in Thailand too much to cause
trouble.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

October 16, Democratic Voice of Burma
India urged to address human rights in Burma – Joseph Allchin

The Indian government should pay closer attention to human rights abuses
in its foreign policy towards Burma, an international watchdog urged this
week.

The call was made as directors of the New York-based Human Rights Watch
(HRW) met in New Delhi on Wednesday for the organisation’s quarterly
meeting.

India has become less inclined to challenge Burma’s abject human rights
record as relations between the two countries have steadily warmed over
the past decade.

“India has been very silent about what’s going on next door,” said HRW
Burma researcher, David Mathieson. “They are playing it low key for their
own self interest; it’s got nothing to with the people of Burma.”

Alongside the foreign policy plea were calls for India to improve on its
own internal human rights record, notably towards minority groups such as
the lower-caste Dalits.

The two countries recently ended high-level talks focused on greater
military cooperation, with little discussion on human rights reportedly
taking place.

According to Mathieson, it was a “very ominous sign” that the two
militaries were apparently so close. “[India] should be ashamed of
themselves
trying to help this very brutal, nasty army,” he said.

India was also urged by HRW to raise human rights issues at “multilateral
forums such as the United Nations, both at the General Assembly in New
York and the Human Rights Council in Geneva”.

According to Kim from the Delhi-based Burma Centre, India’s former
president, A P J Kalam, in 2006 agreed not to bring up Burma’s human
rights record at international forums during an official visit to Burma.

India has repeatedly said that it needs to cooperate with the junta over
border-based Indian and Burmese insurgents who utilise one another’s
territory.

The Burmese junta’s plan to create border security forces out of ceasefire
groups has also raised concern in India.

Delhi is said to be concerned that these groups, many of them ethnic
insurgents themselves, will not be able to contain India’s northeastern
rebels.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

October 16, Democratic Voice of Burma
Zarganar receives PEN/Pinter award – Joseph Allchin

Imprisoned Burmese comedian and satirist Zarganar has been chosen by one
of Britain’s top poets to receive the prestigious PEN/Pinter award.

The award, named after the late British playwright Harold Pinter, is given
annually to one British literary figure and one international ‘imprisoned
writer of courage’, according to the PEN organization, which advocates
freedom of expression.

British poet Tony Harrison, known for his poems sent from the frontline of
the Bosnian war, was chosen for the main prize. He in turn picked Zarganar
for the second prize.

Carole Seymour-Jones, chair of English PEN's writers in prison committee,
received the award on Zarganar’s behalf and paid tribute to ‘the wise fool
of Burma’. She also paid tribute to the award’s namesake, who was an
ardent supporter of imprisoned writers.

The assistant director of English PEN, Sarah Hesketh, told DVB today that
the award was also an effort to publicise Zarganar’s plight and that of
all the “people on the ground [in Burma] who speak out” but are not
acknowledged.

Zarganar was sentenced in November 2008 to 59 years, later reduced to 35
years, after giving interviews to foreign media in which he criticized the
Burmese junta’s reaction to cyclone Nargis in May 2008.

He is currently detained in Myintkyina prison in Burma’s eastern Kachin
state, and was earlier this year reported to have been denied adequate
healthcare despite suffering from hypertension and jaundice.

The satirist has long included political material in his performances and
was previously jailed in 1988. His sharp political wit is credited with
affording him such a formidable reputation.

Fellow comedian and former colleague, Godzilla, said he was “extremely
pleased to hear the news that Zarganar is being honoured.”

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

October 16, Irrawaddy
The NLD’s internal debate – Wai Moe

Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD),
has adopted what it calls a “survival policy” for years. But, ahead of the
2010 election, the issue of whether the party continues to apply that
policy is being brought into question within the party’s ranks.

Following Suu Kyi’s incarceration in 1989, some NLD leaders, mainly
ex-military officers, introduced a party line known as the “survival
policy,” which would ensure that despite arrests and the threat of
disbanding by the military authorities, the NLD party would maintain its
position within Burmese society.

Others, most notably Suu Kyi loyalists, known as the “intellectual group,”
introduced what they called the “principle policy,” which encouraged
members to remain active within the democracy movement even if the NLD is
abolished by the military regime.

NLD sources recently told The Irrawaddy that more and more ideological
debates and peripheral discussions concerning participation in the
upcoming election have been occurring regularly among NLD members.

Last week, NLD members from Pegu and Mandalay divisions sent a joint
letter calling for the NLD to hold a national conference to debate the
issues surrounding the NLD’s role in next year’s election.

“We have called for a national conference because this is an important
time in our country’s history,” said Myint Myint Aye, an NLD organizer
from Meiktila Township in Mandalay Division. “But so far, headquarters has
not responded or made any comment about a meeting.”

Khin Maung Swe, a member of the NLD’s Central Executive Committee, said
the involvement of more townships was required before a national
conference could be tabled.”

He told The Irrawaddy that the NLD would call a conference involving
representatives from across the country when the electoral laws are
announced and political parties are free to form and associate.

Khin Maung Swe was one of the NLD’s executive members who met with a
20-strong delegation from the EU on Wednesday. At the meeting, European
diplomats asked the NLD representatives to clarify the party’s stance on
various issues surrounding the 2010 election, the lifting of economic
sanctions on Burma, and a review of the 2008 Constitution.

Though Khin Maung Swe toned down suggestions of a party convention,
veteran NLD leader Win Tin said the convening of a party convention is
important.

Senior NLD members said that despite ongoing debates on various election
issues among its members, the party’s official line was still the three
conditions for participation in the election that the party announced in
April in its Shwegondaing Declaration.

The three conditions are: the unconditional release of all political
prisoners; the amendment of any provisions in the 2008 Constitution “not
in accord with democratic principles”; and an all-inclusive free and fair
poll under international supervision.

However, some NLD members have said that they want to take part in the
election whether through the NLD, a splinter group or even independently,
even though they recognize the 2008 Constitution is undemocratic.

“Yes, there are debates over elections,” said Ohn Kyaing, a senior party
member. “But since democracy values debates and different opinions, we
must accept that some members want to take part in the election while
others do not.

“However, for the present moment, the party policy is aligned with the
Shwegondaing Declaration,” he said.

He added that the NLD would be able to decide clearly on the upcoming
election and the future of the party after Naypyidaw announces the
electoral law.

Although she has spent most of the last 20 years in detention, the NLD’s
general secretary, Aung San Suu Kyi, is still the most influential person
in the party, and no one doubts her opinions will be vital in deciding how
the party approaches the election and how it sees its future.

The NLD leadership recently requested permission from the junta to arrange
a meeting between Suu Kyi and the other party leaders to discuss the
party’s policies, including those regarding the election. The junta has
reportedly not responded to date.

However, the military authorities have allowed Suu Kyi’s lawyers—who are
also NLD members—to meet with her during her recent trial on charges of
harboring an American intruder, John W Yettaw.

In the past two weeks, Suu Kyi has met with the junta’s liaison officer,
ex-Maj-Gen Aung Kyi, as well as with Western diplomats to talk about the
current issues, which observers say would include the lifting of
international sanctions, the NLD’s policy toward the 2010 election and her
views on the 2008 Constitution.

Suu Kyi was able to relate the details of those meetings to her lawyer,
NLD spokesman Nyan Win, on Friday. However, Nyan Win declined to provide
details of Suu Kyi’s talks when asked by The Irrawaddy.

“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s decisions significantly affect NLD policies,” said
Aye Thar Aung, the secretary of the umbrella group the Committee
Representing the People’s Parliament. “So Suu Kyi’s meetings with her
colleagues are important for the NLD itself and for Burmese politics.

“Whether the NLD goes ahead with its ‘survival policy’ or ‘principle
policy,’ it has to cultivate sharp tactics and unify while the junta
effectively uses divide-and-rule tactics ahead of the election,” Aye Thar
Aung said. “The NLD has to think beyond itself to bring about changes in
the country.”

____________________________________

October 16, Bangkok Post
Migrants in a bind – Editorial

There is no question about it. Thailand needs to solve the problem of
underground migrant workers, now estimated at 3 million strong. The
challenge is how to do it right.

The annual registration system has failed miserably because the procedures
are too complicated and costly, and job registration does not
automatically extend to migrants the medical and welfare protection that
Thai workers receive.

Given the registration's failure, the government is now requiring all
migrant workers to verify their nationalities with their home countries so
they may enter Thailand legally with passports and may continue working in
Thailand. Like the ineffective annual registration, this nationality
verification system is bound to fail. It is not only because the complex
system offers little benefit. For many migrant workers, it is simply too
dangerous. The majority of underground workers are from Burma and a large
number of them are from ethnic groups facing violent persecution at home
from the Burmese military junta. The Mon, Karen and Rohinya, for example.
Turning themselves in and revealing their identities will likely put their
lives at risk, as well as those of their families back home.

The nationality verification deadline has been set for the end of February
2010. According to the cabinet resolution, only those carrying nationality
verification documents may stay and work. Those who do not will be
deported. There is little chance of the 3 million migrant workers meeting
the deadline, which is only four months away.

The nationality verification system requires the migrant workers to go
through different layers of bureaucratic red tape in both Thailand and
Burma. Yet, the migrant communities have received little information about
how to go about it. Nor any systematic support. Confused and fearful, they
have become easy prey for brokers who work in hand in glove with corrupt
officials on both sides of the border. The problem is not only about being
enormously overcharged. Many have become victims of cheating by bogus
brokers.

Given the confusing situation, uncertain benefits and fear of persecution,
many migrant workers have chosen to play wait-and-see, despite the threat
of deportation. For them, it would not be too difficult to cross the
porous border and pay their way back into Thailand when there are still
many corrupt officials and greedy employers looking for cheap slave
labour.

Labour and human rights groups have come up with recommendations to ease
the knots in nationality verification. Among these are: extending the
deadline, allowing the ones who have not yet completed the verification
process to continue working, supplying the workers with clear and exact
information, and regulating the brokers to prevent fraud, debt bondage and
human trafficking.

Making the verification system transparent, accessible and affordable is
crucial for it to succeed. So it would be a mistake for the government to
ignore these recommendations, the most difficult of which to implement
would be the one calling for Burmese authorities to set up nationality
verification centres in Thailand, as talking sense with the junta is
easier said than done.

Which brings home the fact that the root cause of the problem is in Burma.
So long as the junta continues to terrorise its people, this problem will
not go away. But until these knots can be unravelled through internal and
external pressures, Thailand cannot deny its responsibility to regulate
and provide migrant workers with decent welfare and work benefits.