Deprivation of citizenship, undocumented labor and human trafficking

Abstract

English Abstract: Thailand is a popular destination for irregular labor migration from Myanmar. Among some three million Burmese migrant workers in Thailand, more than half are undocumented. Undocumented migrant workers rely on brokers to smuggle them into Thailand. Some undocumented migrant workers are lured, tricked, and forced to work but they are not rewarded with a reasonable wage. A conceptual framework of the shadow sector of labor migration is formulated in this study, which attempts to explain why ethnic minorities in Myanmar are socially categorized by the level of their deprived citizenship. Those low in the hierarchy of categorization are likely to fall into the shadow sector of the labor migration process. Ethnic minorities from areas of insurgency are exposed to a high risk of human trafficking.Spanish Abstract:Tailandia es un destino popular para la migración laboral irregular de Myanmar. Entre unos tres millones de trabajadores migrantes birmanos en Tailandia, más de la mitad son indocumentados. Los trabajadores migrantes indocumentados confían en intermediarios para pasar de contrabando a través de la frontera a Tailandia. En este estudio se formula un marco conceptual del sector paralelo de la migración laboral que trata de explicar por qué las minorías étnicas en Myanmar se clasifican socialmente por el nivel de su ciudadanía privada. Aquellos que se encuentran en la jerarquía de categorización baja probablemente caigan en el sector oscuro del proceso de migración laboral. Las minorías étnicas de las áreas de la insurgencia están expuestas a un alto riesgo de trata de personas.French Abstract:La migration irrégulière de main-d’oeuvre et la traite d’êtres humains sont des sujets récurrents des études migratoires, mais le sujet le plus traité jusqu’à présent concerne le mouvement Sud Nord. La Thaïlande, en tant qu’économie en développement de l’Asie du Sud-Est, est une destination prisée pour la migration de main-d’oeuvre irrégulière myanmaraise. Parmi les quelques trois millions de travailleurs migrants birmans en Thaïlande, plus de la moitié sont sans papiers. Les travailleurs migrants sans papiers comptent sur les intermédiaires pour passer clandestinement la frontière de la Thaïlande afin d’y rechercher un emploi. Certains travailleurs migrants sans papiers sont attirés, trompés et forcés à travailler sans la récompense d’un salaire raisonnable. Un cadre conceptuel du secteur parallèle de la migration de main-d’oeuvre est formulé dans cette étude qui tente d’expliquer pourquoi les minorités ethniques du Myanmar sont classées socialement par leur niveau de privation de citoyenneté. Ceux qui sont au bas de la hiérarchie de la catégorisation risquent de tomber dans le marché parallèle du processus de migration de main-d’oeuvre. Les minorités ethniques des zones de l’insurrection sont exposées à un risque élevé de traite d’êtres humains.

Migration, Brokerage and Recruitment

“…Migration intermediaries can be sizable, profit-making firms, unofficial or licensed, usually taking the form of a labour recruitment agent. Almost all of them offer a wide range of services to prospective migrants or migrant workers, from documentation, language training, transportation, jobmatching, and for some, even remittances (Chantavanich 2008;Chan 2018Chan , 2022. The labour recruitment industry has become a lucrative market for many individuals, companies, and organisations.…”

Normative coherence for development and regionalism: Gender equality in ASEAN's migration policies

“…Scholars have noted how female migrants used to be primarily motivated by marriage or family reunification, whereas now, they are increasingly present on the global labour market as independent workers (Sharma, 2011). This trend is particularly marked in East and Southeast Asia, where international labour migration has become a “regionalized phenomenon” (Asis, Piper, & Raghuram, 2019; Kwok‐Leung Chan, 2018). The high percentage of women participating in this regional migration system indicates that the feminization of migration (defined as the demographic increase in the percentage of migrants who are women) has already progressed as a broadly accepted wealth‐increasing strategy (Choo Chin, 2019).…”

“…Many authors, such as Choo Chin (2019), have noted that restrictive immigration and visa policies of sending and receiving countries contribute to precarities that limit migrants' rights. Second, in conjunction with these legal barriers, many female migrants, especially those working in domestic service, turn to recruitment agencies to facilitate work and residence permits, which are often highly exploitative and sometimes even engage in trafficking (see Kwok‐Leung Chan, 2018). Threats to women's well‐being are numerous and they prevent female migration from contributing widely to transformative development.…”