Rebuilding Hotels Instead of Justice

When I recently visited our tsunami response partner, Grassroots Human Rights Education in Phang Nga, Thailand, and talked with the Burmese undocumented workers with whom they work, I was amazed at the stories of abuse and injustice I heard.

The Burmese are employed to rebuild the Thai tourist hotels and infrastructure in Phang Nga that were destroyed by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Having fled a brutal war, most are undocumented, all are suffering grave abuses of basic human rights. They are paid half of what they are promised -- or not paid at all -- they are kept in sub-human conditions, shaken down by the police, jailed if they cannot pay, and threatened with deportation if they protest.

The most eerie part of that discussion, held in a restaurant within sight of a beautiful beach, was how the stories of the undocumented Burmese rebuilding the Thai coast after the tsunami mirrored the stories of the Latin American undocumented workers rebuilding the Gulf Coast after Katrina. I could shut my eyes and -- save for the translator -- the stories of labor rights abuse were frighteningly similar.

UUSC supports the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice in New Orleans and the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance in Gulfport in their work to organize and advocate for undocumented workers in the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast who face the same problems the Burmese do. In Thailand, we support GHRE, a courageous organization staffed by Burmese themselves who help organize the Burmese, advocate for them, defend their rights, and provide services such as education for children of undocumented workers.

With the last UUSC grant in 2006, GHRE was able to secure legal migrant status for 25 of their workers, enabling them to travel freely to do their work without continual fear that the police would detain or deport them. GHRE sent us a photo in January of a group of workers holding up their legal migrant IDs, jubilant because they had successfully used them to get past police checkpoints without harassment. This mobility has given GHRE the ability to expand their defense of the undocumented workers and be effective advocates.

Now these workers are being hounded by new laws. Last week, Htoo Chit, the head of GHRE wrote UUSC about Phang Nga province's new restrictive laws against legal migrants. On June 9, a new law was passed prohibiting legal migrants from Burma to drive motorbikes, use cell phones, gather in groups of more than five people, or be outside between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. Thai citizens are allowed to confiscate motorbikes or cellphones from Burmese migrants.

Equally draconian laws were passed in other provinces. The Thai government is trying to tie the hands of those Burmese who are struggling to improve the lives of their compatriots by making it almost impossible for them to travel, communicate, or hold meetings. These are basic human rights that are recognized worldwide. If this is how the Thai government treats the legal migrants, the undocumented workers are more vulnerable than ever.

Htoo Chit from GHRE is an inspiring human rights worker who continues to find creative solutions to the thousand and one obstacles he has faced to defend the undocumented Burmese in Thailand. We will be working with him over the next few weeks to support him against this latest violation of basic human rights.