CI issuance for Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand

BANGKOK, September 29 (TNA) - The Thai and Myanmar authorities have worked together to accelerate completing the issuance of the Certificate of Identity (CI) for Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand by the dateline set at the end of this year. Ananchai Uthaipattanacheep, Inspector-General of the Thai Ministry of Labour, told journalists of the Thai-Myanmar cooperation on September 28 in his capacity as the ministry's spokesman. Under the agreed cooperation, Ananchai revealed, a top Myanmar labor official, U Win Shein, has ordered Myanmar officials involving in the CI issuance to speed up the task systematically and transparently to get rid of illegal brokers taking advantages of Myanmar migrant workers who want to get the process done quickly. Besides, the Myanmar government has installed more CI issuing machines at its centers in three Thai provinces, including Ranong, Samut Sakhon and Samut Prakan, in which 1,400 CI documents can be each produced daily, along with the centers in other Thai provinces, including Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Tak, Nakhon Sawan and Songkhla, where 1,000 CI documents can be each produced daily. "The cooperation, which also covers over services namely health check-ups, health insurance, as well as the issuance of visa and work permits, has quickened the legal process that is now believed to be completed by the December 31-dateline", said the senior Thai official. According to the senior official, the cooperation by the Thai and Myanmar labour authorities followed a number of complaints filed by local employers over a delay in the issuance of the CI documents for their Myanmar migrant workers who have passed an official screening on the true relations with their employers in Thailand recently. (TNA)