In my documentary I'm following a group of mostly Burmese immigrants who are living and working with their families on a garbage dump in Mae Sot, Thailand. They earn their money by picking out and recycling plastic and glass bottles. The immigrants live on the dump because they have no other place to go. If they leave the dump they might be arrested and sent back.
At least two million Burmese work in Thailand of which only one fourth have valid work permits.*1 The
number of illegal Burmese increased dramatically after 1990, as increasing human rights abuses and economic
hardships forced young men and women to leave Burma.
In Thailand, illegal Burmese workers are doing the bulk of the lowly paid or dirty work that Thais in
general don't want to do. Immigrants do it for 1-2 euro's a day. "Some employers say they give
accommodation, food, electricity so they don't need to pay the workers, so there are a range of exploitative
conditions that are there."*2
When you have no papers, you can be sent home any second by the Thai government. "Sending these refugees
back to Burma is sending them back to possible death, slave labour or forced recruitment as soldiers," said
Zoya Phan, of the Burma Campaign UK."*3
While the Thai authorities insist that no one will be forced to return to Burma against their will, they
have said that those who want to go home could start returning immediately. It has been claimed that
officials have already been putting pressure on some of the refugees.*3
*1 The Mizzima - Mizzima.com; 28 November 2008
*2 Radio Nederland Wereldomroep - Rnw.nl; 17 June 2005
*3 The Independent - Independent.co.cuk; 5 February 2010
Translation: On the 23rd of January, 200 members from the Mae Sot police force, volunteer forces,
municipality of Mae Sot and Tak immigration department arrested illegal immigrants in the Mae Sot area.
They arrested 116 people in total, made up of Burmese, Bangladeshi and Karen people.
Immigrants leaving the garbage dump after the police destroyed their houses.