Rumour forces Cambodian workers to leave Thailand

SA KAEO, THAILAND, June 13 (TNA) - Migrant Cambodian workers in Thailand have flocked back to their home country, after a rumour that the Thai military is launching a massive crackdown against illegal migrants. Thai border officials told reporters on Friday that groups of Cambodian workers have returned home by trains and busses over the past few days, as they were concerned that the Thai military would suppress illegal migrant workers in Thailand. The Phnom Penh government has reportedly provided more than 20 military trucks and over 10 buses to pick up more than 10,000 Cambodian workers who were stranded at a border checkpoint in the Cambodian border town of Poi Pet, opposite Aranyaprathet District in Thailand's eastern Sa Kaeo Province. Police Lieutenant Colonel Benjapol Rodsawat, Sa Kaeo's Deputy Immigration Police Chief, said that local Thai officials have tried to explain to the Cambodian workers that they should not fear if they work in Thailand legally, and that the key border checkpoint in Aranyaprathet will never be closed. Pravit Kiengpol, Director-General of the Thai Ministry of Labour’s Department of Employment, acknowledged, meanwhile, that several Thai enterprises would, probably, face a shortage of workers following the returning home of the Cambodian workers. Official figures show that a total of 441,569 Cambodian workers have registered with Thailand's Department of Employment, a number of them have already left for their home country following the rumour.(TNA)