Iris scan of migrant workers in Thailand expected to be completed in due course

BANGKOK, March 15 (TNA) - The identity verification of all migrant workers employed in Thailand's fishery sector through the iris scan process is expected to be completed by the end of this month. Thai Labour Minister Police General Adul Sangsingkeo made the assessment on March 14, saying that there are now about 48,000 migrant workers in the Thai fishery sector, out of a total of almost 90,000 of them, who have not passed the iris scan process. The minister told journalists that he believed the iris scan process of the remaining migrant workers should be completed by March 31, as scheduled, because his ministry's teams have been sent to local seaside factories, particularly those in Bangkok's adjacent Samut Sakhon Province, to accelerate the iris scan process. According to official statistics released by the ministry's Department of Employment, the iris scan process on migrant workers in the Thai fishery sector has been completed in six out of a total of 22 seaside provinces as of March 13, most of whom, or 29,806, are employed in Samut Sakhon, followed by Ranong and Rayong Provinces at 5,929 and 5,084 respectively. The minister stated, meanwhile, that his ministry is considering to extend the dateline of the legal registration of other migrant workers in the country from March 31, as there are remaining 1.3 million out of a total of nearly two million of them who have not yet turned out to report themselves at official one stop service centers (OSSCs) for the registration to first work or extend their working periods in Thailand. (TNA)