Migrant labourers have no choice but to survive on their own as Covid hits Thailand

Migrant laborers in Bangkok, Thailand, are left with no choice but to survive on their own as the public authority lack plans for them. Following a ban on all construction work during a coronavirus surge, as indicated by labour rights advocates. 

After shutting down construction sites in July to stop the spread of the virus, migrant workers in the Thai capital and its suburbs are ordered to remain indoors in their overcrowded camps. Nonetheless, even though the guarantees from the public authority that they would provide food and other essential items, many of these laborers from Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos have been left to survive on their own, activists say. 

The migrant laborers deprived of getting vaccinated health and social benefits. The government might have succeeded in closing down the construction sites; however, they have failed to control the spread of the disease in Bangkok, Suthep U-on, a parliament member for the liberal Move Forward Party, stated.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Numerous migrants serve for 12 hours per day or more for nominal wages in unhygienic conditions, as per human rights group activists. Regardless of the endeavors made to guarantee the assurance of migrants, many facing massive risks during the migration cycle.  Darian McBain, the overseer of corporate affairs and sustainability at Thai Union, says Thailand’s migrant workers are susceptible to mistreatment and discrimination, but can be constrained into paying high recruitment charges in transit from their nation of origin to secure work.