Burmese Migrant Workers Research Articles

Burmese migrant domestic workers’ foodwork and biopedagogies in pandemic Singapore

COVID-19 not only increased food insecurity across the globe but has also given rise to pandemic-induced “biopedagogies,” a concept premised on conflating health with instructions on the “bios,” including how to live healthily, what to eat, and how much. Based on 24 qualitative interviews with low-waged migrant domestic workers (MDWs) in Singapore hailing from Myanmar, we explore how migrant women articulate and develop their own biopedagogical practices under pandemic-constrained circumstances. While live-in MDWs are invariably involved in preparing food for employers’ families as part of their care duties, and despite originating from historically food-producing regions, they are vulnerable to urban and cultural food insecurities at destination sites of migration given their diminished rights and subordinate positions in the household. Yet, these migrant women express agency in enacting counter-practices through their foodwork in at least two ways. First, MDWs cultivate self-care through cooking and consuming home foods during the pandemic and negotiating enough fortifying food for themselves while living in employers’ households. Secondly, through remittance-sending to left-behind families and children, they enact long-distance maternal carework through foodwork for health. We uncover how MDWs’ foodwork achieve a measure of food security despite language barriers, limited economic resources, lack of access to culturally appropriate foods at destination, and distance from their families. Experiencing vulnerability in terms of their occupational position, their plate, and the pandemic, this paper uncovers the stressors in achieving food security and health for themselves and families’ while working in Singapore.

Labour in Fisheries Through Migration Studies: Burmese Fish Worker Regularisation and Agency in the Thai Fishing Industry

ABSTRACT In recent years, labour in fisheries has emerged as a field of study, gaining traction both from academics and through policy implementations. Fish workers often migrate across jurisdictional borders to work on industrial fishing boats around the world. I argue that research on labour in fisheries would benefit from the inclusion of concepts found within migration studies that can unpack the implications of being a migrant in a host country. In this paper, I borrow the concepts of ‘regularisation’ and ‘migrant agency’ from migration studies to examine how migrant fish workers navigate migration regimes in order to work in the offshore fishing industry. I illustrate my argument through a case of Burmese fish workers in the border city of Ranong, Thailand. Methodologically, I focus on three disruptions to Thai fisheries – labour regulatory reforms, the pandemic, and the recent military coup in Myanmar, in 2021—as open moments to explore ways in which Burmese migrant fish workers navigate their livelihood strategies. Regularisation highlights the trade-off between the benefits and the costs for migrant fish workers of gaining legal status during the disruptions. The concept of migrant agency provides a lens through which to capture how migrants explored the space of possibilities through the cultivation of ethnicity and digital technology during the disruptions. I conclude that theoretically drawing on concepts found within migration studies has the potential to reveal the complexity of migrant fish workers, who exercise their agency, rather than being understood as mere victims in the unruly nature of ocean governance.

The Guideline Development for COVID-19 Control and Prevention among Burmese Migrant Workers Community at the Thai-Myanmar Border

การศึกษาแบบผสมผสานครั้งนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อศึกษาศักยภาพในการควบคุมป้องกันโรคโควิด 19 และเพื่อสร้างแนวทางการควบคุมป้องกันโรคโควิด 19 ในชุมชนที่มีแรงงานต่างด้าวชาวพม่าตามแนวชายแดนไทย-พม่า แบ่งเป็น 2 ระยะ ระยะที่ 1 ศึกษาเชิงปริมาณกับกลุ่มตัวอย่าง จำนวน 300 คน โดยการสุ่มอย่างเป็นระบบและเก็บรวบรวมข้อมูลด้วยแบบสอบถาม ระยะที่ 2 ศึกษาเชิงคุณภาพกับกลุ่มตัวอย่าง จำนวน 60 คน โดยการสุ่มแบบเจาะจง และเก็บรวบรวมข้อมูลโดยการทำเวทีประชาคม วิเคราะห์ข้อมูลด้วย Binary logistic regression และ Content analysis ผลการศึกษา พบว่า กลุ่มตัวอย่างมีศักยภาพในการควบคุมป้องกันโรคโควิด 19 อยู่ในระดับสูง ร้อยละ 59.33 ปัจจัยที่มีผลต่อศักยภาพในการควบคุมป้องกันโรคโควิด 19 ได้แก่ การเรียนหนังสือ การมีงานทำ ระยะเวลาอยู่ในชุมชน สถานที่พักอาศัย การป่วยด้วยโรคโควิด19 การตรวจหาเชื้อโควิด 19 และการรับรู้ความรุนแรงโรค ส่วนแนวทางในการควบคุมป้องกันโรคโควิด 19 ในชุมชน ได้แก่ 1) สร้างอาสาสมัครแรงงานต่างด้าวในการควบคุมป้องกันโรค 2) ส่งเสริมและสนับสนุนแรงงานต่างด้าวให้เข้าถึงอุปกรณ์ป้องกันโรค และฉีดวัคซีน 3) ตรวจคัดกรองโรค 4) พัฒนาศักยภาพการควบคุมป้องกันโรคในกลุ่มที่มีศักยภาพต่ำ 5) สร้างการรับรู้ความรุนแรงของโรค และ 6) จัดสถานที่กักตัวผู้ที่ตรวจพบการติดเชื้อ ข้อเสนอแนะ หน่วยงานที่เกี่ยวข้องควรนำแนวทางการควบคุมป้องกันโรคโควิด 19 ทั้ง 6 ขั้นตอนไปประยุกต์ใช้ในชุมชนที่มีแรงงานต่างด้าว

МОДЕЛЬ ФАКТОРОВ, ВЛИЯЮЩИХ НА КАЧЕСТВО ТРУДОВОЙ ЖИЗНИ РАБОТНИКОВ: СРАВНИТЕЛЬНОЕ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЕ СРЕДИ ТАЙСКИХ ТРУДЯЩИХСЯ И ТРУДЯЩИХСЯ-МИГРАНТОВ

The aim of this research was to study the factors that affected the quality of working life of Thai and migrant workers and how labour public management affected the quality of working life. This study employed a mixed-methods research design which consisted of qualitative and quantitative methodology. The first phase was qualitative research, in-depth interviews and the focus group interviews were conducted with Thai and Burmese workers. The data obtained in the first phase was analyzed using content analysis. The second phase was quantitative research in which questionnaires were collected from 400 participants. The data obtained in this phase were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis to describe the factors that affected the quality of working life of Thai and Burmese migrant workers. The results showed that the factors affecting the quality of life of both Thai and migrant workers are the following: 1) government policies such as public health, economic aspects, and education can improve the well-being of the workers; 2) the quality of working life can be improved through the support of the government labour administration; it can provide labour protections and welfares following the international labour law and diversity within the workplace according to the human rights principles; 3) government officials’ attitudes toward migrant workers discriminate against them. These findings can be used as the guidelines to develop Thai and migrant workers’ management. The results can be practical knowledge to support the performance of government agencies in the future.

Low-Skilled Labor Shortages Contribute to Forced Labor — Evidence From Myanmar and Thailand

Over 25 million people are victims of forced labor globally; the vast majority are low-skilled migrant workers who migrated from a different country or region. Evidence so far indicates that much of labor exploitation has roots in the recruitment process. This motivates the question of whether there are characteristics common to low-skilled labor recruitment that can serve as reliable indicators of forced labor risk in the workplace. Leveraging unique data sets from the Myanmar Government and the Issara Institute on weekly demand for Burmese migrant workers in Thailand by Thai companies, and on worker voice hot-line data from 2018-2020, we find that unexpected labor shortages in the workplace significantly increase migrant worker abuse. Using an Instrumental Variable (IV) approach, we find that an increase of one standard deviation in low-skilled labor shortages in the workplace leads to a 34.5% or higher increase in worker-reported labor abuse in the two to four weeks that follow. Shocks of such magnitude occur about 10% of the time. We also find a visible correlation between provinces whose labor markets are more stressed on average and the frequency of unexpected labor shortages in a province, suggesting that stressed labor markets are also more prone to unexpected shortages and abuse. Overall, this research suggests that inefficiencies in matching supply and demand for low-skilled labor play an important role in determining labor abuse outcomes, and that reducing these inefficiencies in the labor recruitment process could help mitigate labor abuse.

Space of Compromise: Border Control and the Limited Inclusion of Burmese Migrants in China

Enforcement of border control has become a global trend as nation-states endeavor to regulate cross-border flows and handle security risks posed by migrants. This article analyzes the China–Myanmar border, which is hitherto neglected in the literature but undergoes innovative experimentation in border control, to complement the well-established literature on border enforcement. We draw on a theoretical framework based on the work of Gramsci in relation to hegemony and compromise. An analysis of compromise in border politics can unpack the complexity of borders and demonstrate that border control can be accomplished through means other than walls and militarization. It is found that Burmese migrant workers are economically included in and spatially limited by Chinese border cities, giving rise to a mode of limited inclusion for border control. This mode turns border cities into spaces of compromise where Burmese migrants can live and work but must endure economic exploitation, spatial confinement, and social discrimination. We argue that China’s compromise-oriented border control toward Burmese migrants offers evidence of how border can become flexible and prohibitive and be enforced through intense surveillance, policing, and fear in the border cities, instead of only at the borderline. With militarized border control remaining highly capricious and controversial, compromise-driven institutional arrangement (through the armor of coercion) to handle the tension among national security, capital accumulation, and labor supply does arguably offer an alternative but has its flaws. Key Words: border control, China–Myanmar border, compromise, hegemony, limited inclusion.

Thailand's health screening policy and practices: The case of Burmese migrants with tuberculosis

Burmese migrant workers who work legally in Thailand have to follow a migrant registration system, which includes a health screening procedure. This paper investigates the health screening procedure of Burmese migrants in Thailand. Since ethnography is very useful for social research, the investigator of this study employed an ethnographic perceptive, in which the dual roles of the ethnographer are used to develop an understanding of what it is like to live in a particular setting: the investigator must both become a part of the lives of the participants of the study while also maintaining the role of an observer. The information in this study was also derived from in-depth interviews, field notes, and formal and informal interviews with 13 migrant workers with tuberculosis (TB), 4 members of a TB self-help group, 4 migrant health volunteers, 17 family members of TB patients, and 5 hospital staff.The results of the study showed that the screening of the health of Burmese migrant workers was associated with discrimination, fear that the migrants might spread TB, and the government's concern about the treatment cost. The screening for the health of migrants is especially presented as a health policy to monitor health issues and to prevent the spread of infectious disease to the Thai people.

The Perception of Myanmar Development on its Return Migrants: Implications for Burmese Migrants in Thailand

Recent development in Myanmar has created stronger pull factors on emigrant Burmese workers to return to their motherland. Using a survey of 433 Burmese migrants in Thailand as a case study, this paper examines the impact of Myanmar’s development on the probability of the return of Burmese migrants to Myanmar from Thailand. Development factors such as more foreign direct investment, deregulation, and improvement of public services will encourage Burmese migrant workers to return home. Additionally, in terms of economic development, better job opportunities and political stability are also major pull factors for return migration. The main policy implication of these findings is that the chances that Burmese migrant workers will return home are high if investment opportunities followed by job availability and adequate wages can be found in Myanmar. Myanmar and Thailand should implement education programs set up by the Thai government and facilitate Burmese migrants’ children’s access to these programs as well as protecting migrants’ rights during the period of structural adjustment in Thailand.

A Chance in Myanmar Induced by the Minimum Wage Policy in Thailand:A Case Study of Myawaddy Industrial Area

The central goverment of Myanmar has developed the Myawaddy Industrial Area to enhance domestic small and medium-sized enterprises by setting up plants at the border of Thailand, but the present economic conditions in Myanmar make the realization of this plan difficult. In the Moe Sot district of Thailand, there are currently many Burmese migrant workers who could potentially become the workforce for the industrial area, if the central government creates new jobs. Multinational Corporations in Thailand plan trans-boundary investments to surrounding countries where workers are paid law wages, after Thailand enacted a nationwide minimum wage policy which regulates at least 300 baht per day per worker as of 2013. The Myawaddy Industrial Area could drive the industrialization of Myanmar, if the government institutes a duty free zone to attract foreign direct investment and develops infrastructure. This paper discuss the effects of the industrial area located at the border of Myanmar in relation to the maquila program in Mexico and the Export Processing Zone in NIEs as previous models.

Burmese Migrant Workers: Dimensions of Cultural Adaptation and an Assimilation Model for Economic and Social Development in the Central Coastal Region of Thailand

This research is aimed at studying the background of Burmese migrant labor, the current state and problems with Burmese migrant labor and the dimensions of cultural adaptation and an assimilation model for economic and social development of Burmese migrant labor in the Central Coastal Region of Thailand. This is a qualitative study carried out between November 2012 and November 2013 that incorporates document study and field research. The research area was purposively selected as Samut Sakhon, Samut Prakan and Samut Songkhram Provinces. The research sample was also purposively selected and comprised of 150 individuals, divided into three groups: key informants (n=21), casual informants (n=69) and general informants (n=60). Tools used for data collection were observation, interview and focus group discussion. Data was validated using a triangulation technique. The result of the investigation is a development model in five sections: cost of labor, work conditions, job security, career progression and work sanitation and safety.

Cross-border childcare strategies of Burmese migrant workers in Thailand

In discussing the challenges of cross-border childcare faced by migrant workers, most research focuses on ‘distance mothering’, assuming that children remain in the place of origin. In contrast, this article focuses on childcare at the place of destination in the context of migrant Burmese factory workers in Thailand. Since many of these workers are ‘undocumented’, they have few rights in their place of destination. This is especially problematic in the areas of reproductive health and childcare rights. Despite such obstacles, Burmese migrant workers strive to manage their childcare responsibilities by mobilizing whatever resources are available, as well as seeking to maximize the possibilities of citizenship and education rights for their children. According to our research, the specific strategies deployed vary according to the particular location in Thailand in which migrants are working. This study analyzes three locations in Thailand – one in the central Thailand, and the other two at the borderlands between Burma and Thailand. Through a feminist analysis of the ‘care diamond’, the study demonstrates how Burmese women migrant workers utilize the different migrant labor governance systems and porous international border as resources and opportunities to develop complex and changing strategies to juggle their childcare arrangements.

Thailand’s Hidden Workforce: Burmese Migrant Women Factory Workers.

* 1. Thailand's hidden workforce: Burmese women factory workers * 2. Thailand's industrialisation and labour migration policies * 3. Burmese women migrant workers in Thailand's export industries * 4. Migrant women in Thailand's factories: working conditions, struggles and experiences * 5. Burmese migrant women and families in Thailand: reproduction, children and care * 6. After the crisis: new struggles and possibilities * 7. Burmese migrant workers between two worlds * Appendices * Notes * References

Who Cares? Gender, Reproduction, and Care Chains of Burmese Migrant Workers in Thailand

This study analyzes the challenges facing Burmese women factory workers in Thailand who seek to secure the daily reproduction of their labor power as well as the generational reproduction of their children. It illustrates how the reproduction of workers' labor is crucial for the social reproduction of a global economy in which migration is increasingly central to the changing contours of economic development and accumulation. Based on twenty-four months of research, which included life history interviews and survey responses obtained at three sites of factory production in Thailand, the study charts the complexities of Burmese migrant workers' transborder care strategies, as they manage their responsibilities to their children and natal families. Moreover, in analyzing the care burdens of migrant women employed in non-care sectors, this contribution expands the global care chain framework and adds to the understanding of the intersection of productive and reproductive work in contemporary globalization

Between “Voluntary Migrants” and War Refugees: The Health of the Shan Burmese Migrant Workers in Northern Thailand

The Shan are a large migrant group from Burma (Myanmar) found within Thailand. While some Shan migrate to escape the civil war within Burma, others migrate for economic opportunity. Despite the size of this population, little is known about their health. Our study highlights the need for expanded access to primary care among this Shan population. Despite the arduous and trying journeys of these Shan migrants, they do not display the level of health sometimes attributed to health selection among immigrant groups.

South-Asian tsunami

Your Jan 8 Editorial1The Lancet One world, one response—needed, but not yet forthcoming.Lancet. 2005; 365: 95-96Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (6) Google Scholar states that “mortality is an insensitive measure of health risk”, but it is a sensitive issue for some. In The Nation, Bangkok's independent English newspaper, on Jan 5, the tsunami-related fatalities in Thailand were reported as 5246 Thai nationals and 90 Burmese nationals. However, in the same newspaper, there was an article entitled “Hundreds of Burmese dead”, which was based on information collected from the Human Rights Education Institution of Burma.2Bhumiprabhas S Hundreds of Burmese dead. The Nation.http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=3&id=110715&usrsessDate: Jan 5, 2005Google Scholar According to the article, more than 500 Burmese migrant workers died and at least 2500 went missing in the tsunami. However, most went unrecorded and unreported in Thailand's official death toll. The Burmese embassy also seemed to be indifferent to these workers, since most of them migrated into Thailand illegally.Neglected by the country in which they work and the country from which they came, it is as if these people belong nowhere, and thus have no right to be counted, even as their bodies pile up. In addition to the dead, the same article reported that “about 3,000 Burmese workers are taking shelter around the area… but they are not on the list of locals as they are foreign workers… and that they cannot get emergency supplies from the already limited supplies.”A disaster of this magnitude reflects how the value of one human being varies throughout the world. All are not equal. In the case of these “lost” Burmese, we can see how tsunami-linked death and poverty are directly linked.3Abbasi K Death by tsunami and poverty.BMJ. 2005; 330 (0)Google Scholar Poverty is one of the major reasons for migration. Human rights violations against migrant workers take place daily in many parts of the world, but now, in the midst of this huge disaster, it is time for all of us to learn a lesson about the value of human life.We declare that we have no conflict of interest. Your Jan 8 Editorial1The Lancet One world, one response—needed, but not yet forthcoming.Lancet. 2005; 365: 95-96Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (6) Google Scholar states that “mortality is an insensitive measure of health risk”, but it is a sensitive issue for some. In The Nation, Bangkok's independent English newspaper, on Jan 5, the tsunami-related fatalities in Thailand were reported as 5246 Thai nationals and 90 Burmese nationals. However, in the same newspaper, there was an article entitled “Hundreds of Burmese dead”, which was based on information collected from the Human Rights Education Institution of Burma.2Bhumiprabhas S Hundreds of Burmese dead. The Nation.http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.arcview.php?clid=3&id=110715&usrsessDate: Jan 5, 2005Google Scholar According to the article, more than 500 Burmese migrant workers died and at least 2500 went missing in the tsunami. However, most went unrecorded and unreported in Thailand's official death toll. The Burmese embassy also seemed to be indifferent to these workers, since most of them migrated into Thailand illegally. Neglected by the country in which they work and the country from which they came, it is as if these people belong nowhere, and thus have no right to be counted, even as their bodies pile up. In addition to the dead, the same article reported that “about 3,000 Burmese workers are taking shelter around the area… but they are not on the list of locals as they are foreign workers… and that they cannot get emergency supplies from the already limited supplies.” A disaster of this magnitude reflects how the value of one human being varies throughout the world. All are not equal. In the case of these “lost” Burmese, we can see how tsunami-linked death and poverty are directly linked.3Abbasi K Death by tsunami and poverty.BMJ. 2005; 330 (0)Google Scholar Poverty is one of the major reasons for migration. Human rights violations against migrant workers take place daily in many parts of the world, but now, in the midst of this huge disaster, it is time for all of us to learn a lesson about the value of human life. We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitudes, and practices among Burmese migrant factory workers in Tak Province, Thailand

Little information is known regarding the level of knowledge among Burmese migrant workers along the Thai/Burma border concerning risk factors, prevention or transmission of HIV. The Burma Medical Association (BMA) and National Health and Education Committee (NHEC) collected data on knowledge, attitudes and practices among 725 factory workers in Tak Province, Thailand during July 2000. We present results from a secondary analysis of these data. Responses were grouped into prevention, transmission and risk categories, and percentages answered correctly were recorded. Men consistently scored higher than women, with significant gender differences in the prevention and transmission questions. Forty-one per cent of the women understood that contraceptive pills do not prevent infection and 15% of females reported ever seeing a condom. Twelve per cent of men and 1.4% of women reported ever using a condom (OR=8.57, p<0.0001). Previously, virtually no access has been extended to persons trying to document health status among Burmese migrant workers in factories. The survey reveals a significant lack of knowledge about HIV among factory workers and indicates that a sub-population of Burmese people appears to lack the most basic information about the epidemic.

HIV-1 in ethnic Shan migrant workers in northern Thailand.

Northern Thailand has one of the highest rates of HIV-1 infection in Southeast Asia. It is also home to a large number of Burmese migrants, believed to be at high risk of HIV. Our 1999 survey of 429 Burmese migrant workers of Shan ethnic origin in Chiang Mai province found a 4.9% rate of HIV-1 prevalence (5.7% men, 3.8% women). This figure is almost double that of comparable population groups in Chiang Mai, e.g. pregnant women and military recruits. HIV prevention programmes are urgently needed for this vulnerable population.