Migrant workers hired under four-year MoU warned to leave before month-end

BANGKOK: The government on Sunday (April 21) warned some workers from Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar to leave Thailand before the end of this month or face legal charges, saying the four-year period for their employment has ended.

Deputy government spokesman Kharom Polpornklang said the visas for workers from the three neighbouring countries would expire on April 30, so they must leave the country before the expiration date or face charges of overstaying.

Kharom was referring to the migrant workers hired under a memorandum of understanding on labour cooperation with Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

The MoU allowed Thai employers to hire workers from those three countries during a four-year period that expired on Jan 1 this year.

Kharom said employers who want to import these workers can submit their applications for re-employment, which would help reduce processing time in the workers’ home nations.

Kharom said the Employment Department of the Labour Ministry has cooperated with the governments of the three nations to improve and shorten the process for the rehiring of these workers so that they could return to work in Thailand sooner.

He said workers of this group can exit at border checkpoints and re-enter immediately if their employers provide complete documents to the Thai authorities. - The Nation/ANN