Rights groups have asked Thailand’s labour minister to alter a regulation that blocks migrant workers from accessing a government compensation scheme if they are injured in the workplace.

Fourteen groups, including international labour unions and the US Committee for Refugees and Immigration (USCRI), signed an open letter on 12 July to Phaithoon Kaeothong asking for the Work Accident Compensation (WAC) scheme to include the country’s migrant worker population, 80 percent of which is thought to be from Burma.

Rights groups have warned in the past that migrant workers, although an integral part of the Thai economy, are treated poorly by authorities and often denied access to education and healthcare. The letter stated that “migrant workers in Thailand are living and working in seriously degrading conditions”.

Eurasia Review