IOM Thailand, in cooperation with the Ministry of Labour and the
National Human Rights Commission of Thailand, this week hosted the
country's National Conference on Labour Migration.

The theme of the conference, "Maximizing the Benefits of Labour
Migration, While Upholding the Rights of Migrants" is a major
political issue in Thailand, which is a magnet for some 1.8 million
documented and undocumented migrant workers from poorer
neighbouring countries, including Myanmar, the Lao PDR and
Cambodia.

While most migrants work in relatively low-paid sectors, where
employers have difficulty in recruiting Thai workers, the impact of
the global recession and rising unemployment have resulted in new
government moves to register migrants, improve social protection
for documented workers and better manage irregular migration across
the country's porous borders.   

The conference, which attracted over 200 high-level participants
from the government, employers' organizations, NGOs representing
migrant workers and international organizations, was part of a
four–year IOM project funded by the US Agency for
International Development (USAID), designed to raise awareness of
migrants' rights in Thailand.

"Stakeholders mostly agree that migrants make a significant
contribution to Thailand's economy, but have divergent views on
migration management and the rights and obligations of migrant
workers. This event encourages them to share their views to
identify common ground that we hope can ultimately translate into
policy recommendations," says IOM Thailand Labour Migration
Programme Manager Claudia Natali.

Find more information on the conference please go to:  class="paragraph-link-no-underline" href=
"http://www.iom-seasia.org/" target="_blank" title=
"">http://www.iom-seasia.org/ or contact:

Chris Lom

IOM Bangkok

Tel. +66.819275215

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