Statement by the Mekong Migration Network on International Migrants Day

 18 December 2025

With comprehensive and fair migration policies, the interdependence of Mekong countries can be transformed into a collective strength.

 On International Migrants Day 2025, the Mekong Migration Network (MMN) calls on all stakeholders to work together to counter the rise in xenophobia and discrimination and to develop comprehensive policies which protect migrant workers’ rights.

Thailand’s economic prosperity has long relied on the hard work of migrant workers from neighbouring countries. Despite their decades-long contribution, filling urgent labour shortages, migrant workers continue to be regarded as temporary and disposable. The difficulties in securing legal immigration status, the casualisation of labour, and the exclusion of informal sector workers from Social Security systems leave millions of migrant workers unprotected.

Our network member, the Foundation for Education and Development based in Mae Sot and the South of Thailand, continue to report that costly complex procedures make it difficult for migrants to maintain their immigration status. In Had Yai, migrants have also had to deal with the loss or destruction of their documents in the recent floods.

Another longstanding MMN member, the MAP Foundation based in Chiang Mai and Mae Sot, echoes these concerns. A listener to its community radio station recently commented that:

“My employer refused to take responsibility for my registration and asked me to hire an agent to sort it out. I made Social Security contributions, but I don’t even know if I was enrolled by my employer”

Many migrant workers take loans to cover the cost of registration. Some have told the MAP Foundation that they had not yet paid off the debts accrued for last years’ registration, and now they have to pay again. Compared to their wages, migrants feel that the document costs are too high, and as a result they cannot support their families.

Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association, an MMN member based in Mae Sot, has observed that employers are increasingly taking advantage of Myanmar migrants. There is a growing trend whereby workers are given repeated one-month contracts so that employers can evade various responsibilities owed to employees. Female garment factory workers in Mae Sot have detailed their increasingly precarious working conditions:

“We can now be dismissed at the whim of the employer. They don’t need any reason to fire us. Sometimes they claim there are no orders; other times, ten workers are dismissed simply for being two minutes late. In the morning, we have a job. By evening, we are told we are out.”

“When we are dismissed, our unpaid wages are withheld and we are told to wait until next month for our money. No letter of dismissal is given. Instead, we are forced to sign papers falsely stating that we resigned voluntarily. Our work permits are also cancelled without our knowledge, and by the time we find out what has happened it’s too late. Trying to survive with neither a job nor documents is terrifying.”

Recommendations

As we mark International Migrant Day 2025, MMN calls on all the stakeholders to do their utmost to foster social cohesion and promote a diverse and inclusive society. We call on the Royal Thai Government to:

1. Make the migrant registration processes more accessible and affordable;
2. Increase the duration of work permits to at least two years; and
3. Protect migrant workers’ rights through the active enforcement of the Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541.