Thailand: Migrant workers get pandemic aid from businesses

Hanoi (VNA) - Global brands and small firms are actively providing assistance to migrant workers in Thailand, who are meeting difficulties after a jump in COVID-19 cases in the Southeast Asian nation.

Thailand is "struggling" to respond to its worst coronavirus outbreak, with more than 200 new infections reported each day. The country has so far counted more than 11,000 cases, including 69 deaths.

In Samut Sakhon, a province south of Bangkok where an outbreak began at a shrimp market late last year, many migrant workers are struggling to survive while local authorities imposed a social distancing order here since December last year.

According to activists, an estimated 400,000 migrant workers, mainly from Myanmar, are working in the province. The health crisis has left many migrant workers unable to find jobs.

The Raks Thai Foundation, a legal aid charity that has an office in Samut Sakhon, said it had received donations from many foreign and local companies since December.

A representative from the foundation said that migrant workers help support the Thai economy and they should be given equal rights.

Kimberly Rogovin, a coordinator for Global Labor Justice – International Labor Rights Forum, an organisation to ensure labourers’ rights, stressed the need to do more to address the current crisis and prevent future disasters.

She proposed the private sector to ensure workers are paid decent wages, have access to healthcare service, and do not bear the burden of paying for COVID-19 tests./.