A major new report on international migration in Thailand
commissioned by the UN Thematic Working Group on Migration and
published by IOM was launched in Bangkok today.

The report, which follows an earlier work published by IOM in
2005, was compiled by Dr Rosalia Sciortino and Dr Sureeporn
Punpuing of Mahidol University's Institute for Population and
Social Research (IPSR) and looks at international migration trends
and issues currently affecting Thailand and neighbouring
countries.

Its objectives are primarily to review and analyze recent
trends; to identify gaps in existing knowledge; to provide input
and ideas for Thai policymakers; and to make recommendations on the
effective management of international migration in Thailand.

"As the most prosperous country in the Greater Mekong
Sub-Region, Thailand hosts over two million migrants from Myanmar,
Laos and Cambodia – many of them undocumented and working
illegally. While making a major contribution to the Thai economy,
many lack adequate social protection and face exploitation by
unscrupulous employers," says IOM Thailand Chief of Mission Monique
Filsnoel.

Large numbers of Thais also work abroad, over 160,000 of them as
"Overseas Thai Workers" through officially sanctioned labour
migration schemes, mainly in East Asia and the Middle East. While
many earn enough to send remittances to families back home, others
face much of the same social and economic exclusion experienced by
foreign migrant workers in Thailand.

Thailand has also played an important regional role in the
protection of refugees over the past 30 years, most recently
through sheltering some 150,000 displaced people from Myanmar in
camps on the Thai-Myanmar border. Over the past three years the
Thai authorities have worked closely with IOM and its UN partners
to resettle nearly a third of these people to third countries.

"Thailand has made major advances in international migration
management through agreements with its neighbours in recent years.
But much more needs to be done at both national and regional levels
to optimize the contribution of foreign migrant workers in Thailand
and that of Thais working abroad, while protecting their
fundamental human rights," says Filsnoel.

"This report provides policymakers with the data and reasoned
analysis they need to inform public debate and develop humane
policies that combine economic optimality with internationally
accepted human rights standards," she notes.

"Better policies and programmes will not only impact the lives
of millions of migrant workers, their families and others seeking
refuge in Thailand.  They will also benefit their Thai hosts,
enhancing their contribution to the Thai economy and Thai society
and showing that migration really can be for the benefit of all,"
she adds.

The
report is available for download in "paragraph-link-no-underline" href=
"/jahia/webdav/shared/shared/mainsite/published_docs/studies_and_reports/International-Migration-in-Thailand-2009-English.pdf"
target="_blank">English (18 MB) and "paragraph-link-no-underline" href=
"/jahia/webdav/shared/shared/mainsite/published_docs/studies_and_reports/International-Migration-in-Thailand-2009-Thai.pdf"
target="_blank">Thai (142 MB).

For more information please contact:

Chris Lom

IOM Thailand

Tel. +66.819275215

E-mail: "mailto:clom@iom.int">clom@iom.int