04.06.2006
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Perspective: Comparison between the Rights of the Immigrants in the US and Thailand
Thailand and the US treatment on its illegal immigrants are totally different, the Thai see it as an unfavorable issue and severely punish to those who sneak into their country illegally. But the US deals with the immigrants on humanitarian grounds. The Thai government needs to rethink about its policy towards immigrant workers, who are working in Thailand legally or illegally who have been filling the niche of the undesirable jobs in Thailand as third class workers, such as construction, fisheries, farm, house mates, factories, and tourism, which work force has a tremendous contribution for Thailand's economic development.
Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Burma lives side by side and its people travel across over each country for thousands of years. The Burmese, Laotians, Cambodians and Thais are sharing the continuous land and rives and they are look alike, no body will notice who is Thai Burmese, Laotians or Cambodians if they do not speak their own language. Most of them are Buddhist. Many people fled from Cambodia under Pol Pot brutal rule which killed millions of innocent Cambodians. Many escaped from massacre and took sheltered in Thailand as political refugees. The fall of Vietnam under the communist rule encouraged the communists in the neighboring countries, as a result Laos and Cambodia became communist countries, many people who against the communist rule fled to Thailand. Thailand became the center of political refugees and illegal immigrants. But most people migrate into Thailand were Burmese. There are more than one and a half million Burmese living in Thailand today.
Burma has been ruled by successive brutal military regime since 1962. Many Burmese fled to Thailand and took shelter for their survival. But many were marked as illegal immigrants and were captured by the Thai authorities as criminals and sentenced to three to six month. Ethnic cleansing on minorities is not a new issue in Burma, it happened every year in summer. Currently more than ten thousand Karens fled from their villages to escape military offensive. The plight of the Burmese minorities is unbearable.
Similarly, the United States has the immigration problem too. Many people around the world see the US as "The Land of Opportunity" and willing to stay there as free citizens. Every year thousands of people migrate from Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia. Many people lookup on the US as a symbol of democracy and freedom. The majority of the immigrants in the US are from the neighboring country, Mexico. Mexico and the US have long border lines and it is hard to watch who is crossing the border from which place.
The current tattered immigration laws in the US has been criticized by immigrant workers including the US citizens. Huge demonstrations have been held in major US cities including, New York City, Los Angles, and Chicago against the immigration law. The US President George Bush supported a plan that would give many of the 12 million illegal immigrants in the US, a path to possible citizenship. He said "it is neither wise nor realistic to round up millions of people, many with deep roots in the United States and send them across the border." "There is a rational middle ground between granting an automatic path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant and a program of mass deportation."
One striking thing in the US is even though the country is under visible threat made by the radical Islamic terrorist groups, the Americans still treated the immigrants as human being and still want to give shelter and allow refugees to resettle in their country. Their kindness and humane nature amazed me. Hundreds and thousands of Mexicans sneak into the US soil every day and when they were captured by the border guards, they were sent back to Mexico within a week, no prison term or jail term has been given only a short detention within a deportation period. Many escape from being captured and spread around the country and live there as illegal immigrant workers.
In the US the police officer has no right to capture illegal aliens, only the immigration officers and border patrol police can capture them. Some lived in the US for more than 10 to 20 years and became US citizens, but some collected the money and return home. When they return home to Mexico, they were not stop by the US border police. The police let them go back to their home peacefully. Before crossing the border they were investigated by the border guards at the US check points, the US guards knew that they were illegal immigrants and they came to the US and find jobs and support their families in Mexico. Even though they do not have ID or have ID the guards let them go. The main reason for not to capture them is the US laws which do not allowed the guards to capture the people who volunteering to return Mexico. For me it make sense that the Mexicans who work in the US as low pay job workers have the rights to keep their money which they earn from their hard work, and it is their right to return home without being captured because they do not commit any crime while they are staying in the US.
In contrast, the Thai authorities set up the border check points in Mae Sod, Mae Sariang, Mae Sai, Sankhala Buri, and Ranong and captured illegal immigrant from Burma who trying to go to other provinces to find jobs. In vise- versa the Thai border police also captured those who returned to the border from the cities.
Every country has the duty for its national security and it make sense to captured to those sneak into their country but people who sneak into the country and escaped from being captured and worked in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and other cities and collect their salary to come home for their families need to spare from being captured because they work for the Thai companies, factories, stores, houses which boost the Thai economy. Like the Americans, Thai authority needs to rethink about their treatment on illegal immigrant based on humanitarian grounds.
I am writing this opinion based on my own experience a trip from Bangkok to Mae Sod on April 6th, 2006. When my bus approached to the police check points, the police officer came inside the bus and checked most passengers who he think was illegal immigrant, some were taking out from the bus because of lack of ID or passport. He never investigated me. The bus approached to the second check point after half an hour drive, an officer came inside the bus and checked again, look at the documents of the passengers and taken out some from the bus again, the bus approached another check point and an officer do the same thing. All the passengers taken out from the bus were from Burma because Mae Sod is the Thai-Burma border town.
It was obvious that some passengers who took the bus from Bangkok to Mae Sod were Burmese because the bus was going to Thai-Burma border town, some were local Thais and business people. So the question is why the Thai authorities targeted the Burmese who coming back from Bangkok or Chiang Mai? They are going back to their own country after working in Thailand for one or two years or more. Are they deserved to be captured for going back to their country? Are they criminals? A young woman, who sit in the seat in front of me showed her ID card and was passed three check points, on the other side of my seat were elderly Thai couples and their maid. Their maid also was holding the same ID as the young women in front of me. But when the bus arrived at the fourth and last check point which is approximately five miles away from border town Mae Sod, a police officer came into the bus and investigated all the passengers including me. He checked my passport for a while and gave it back to me without saying anything. Then, he checked the young lady ID and with a firm face he pointed his finger to the door to get out from the bus, she put her two palms together and begged him and said, " Karuna Ka" (please be mercy) but this man stirred at her with a mean look and say nothing but pointing his finger at the bus door, she took her bag with sadness and get out from the bus.
It was a heart broken moment for me, she was only five miles away from Burma. All her dream to meet her family will be gone. I look at her from the bus window while she was slowly walked into a prison van with her beg. Why she was captured? It was still puzzle in my mind. The maid from the other side was also investigated by the same officer but the elderly couple talked to him with Thai language and she was spared. The officer gave back her ID similar to the young woman had, her ID was taken by the officer and did not give her back.
The immigrants and their friends around 300,000 demonstrated in Chicago in May 1st, 2006 demanding the legal status and immigration rights, one of their slogan is " legalize not criminalize". Every country has it own unique situation they can deal with it. We do not need to copy other model exactly but we need to consider what approach is more humane and beneficial for both parties.
It is obvious that the Thai border police forces are corrupt because of their rights to search the immigrants and captured them. As I said try to stop the illegal entry is a must for any country including free country like the US, but those who stay in the cities and return home need a free pass if they did not commit any crime.
Majority of the people in Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia are Buddhists. The Buddha taught us to be kind and merciful, forgiveness and donation of poor people are essential. What is the meaning of Asian value? We need to consider it seriously, cruel, aggressive, and unkind are the Asian value?
The Burmese generals called themselves Buddhists but when the Buddhist monks joined the pro-democracy movement and against them, they sent troop to shoot the monks. Some activist monks were captured and soldiers smashed their shaved head, disrobed them and thrown into jails.
We, all Asians need to rethink about our Asian value, our value is above the western ideology or not, if not try to improve it, if we think we are smart and kind persons.
Htun Aung Gyaw
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Comments
Yebaw Day said _
Dear Yebaw HAG, this is an excellent article and you wrote
it with much more detail and experiences than the one I had in mind, to
be called, "A Tale of Two Borders." I don't need to write it now --- you
have done a wonderful job.
Please also submit your article to various US agencies and US newsrooms.
The US Immigrations and US Govt. would appreciate your comparisons because
they are reeling from the demonstrations against them.
The US officials are being condemned as cruel and barbaric, which is not
true, when we are comparing them to the SPDC and Thai officials.
Thus, if you show this to them, the US officers will feel vindicated; did
I use that word right? They will feel supported that they are not really
bad guys, compared to the SPDC and Thai. Ah-noo daw htae gaht loo chaw.
The handsome man among the lepers.
They will appreciate your article and when they publish it to vindicate
themselves, they will be also publicizing the tragic plight of our people
in Burma/Thailand. Thus, it will be a win-win situation.
The part where the young woman says, Karuna Kha, is very pitiful. No
doubt, the officers were going to force her to their evil
desires in addition to robbing her. There was one incident when the KNU
were said to have raided a corrupt office and shot dead some very evil
Thai officers. I heard about this story when I was there in 1999.
Like you, I wondered if they would check me, but they did not. Somehow,
they can tell who has a legal passport and those who are illegal. Maybe
they are oh malone ohn pwint, looking guilty for nothing.
We need to train our people to look myet nhar pyaung-byaung, or at
the very least, to write articles in Burmese and distribute along the
border. To look boldly, dress like a tourist from Malaysia or HK, hang a
camera around the neck, wear a typical tourist hat, sunglasses, etc.
Angle Naw said _
Thanks Ko Htun Aung Gyaw. Very few Burmese scholars or dissidents speak for more unfortunate Burmese immigrant workers in Thailand. Thailand will not change. We only have to change Burma, make it a viable economy so as to attract our people back into the country.
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