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Illegal workers from Burma arrested in Rawai last week at the Phuket Immigration Office in Phuket city.
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ALIEN WORKERS
Crackdown continues
Published on April 23, 2008
Immigration police throw the book at employers of illegals as well
Phuket Gazette More than 50 Burmese are in the process of being deported after being caught by Phuket Immigration Police last week. Phuket Immigration Police held a press conference at Phuket Immigration headquarters late last week to announce the arrest of 43 Burmese workers who were detained after their work documents were found to be forgeries. The workers, riding in the back of a truck, were all wearing the same uniforms with the name of the company they were working for when the truck was pulled over on Saiyuan Road in Rawai. The workers produced documents identifying themselves as stateless hilltribe people from the north of Thailand with permission to travel and work in Thailand while their requests for citizenship were being processed.
Forged documents Phuket Immigration Police Inspector Major Neti Khan-boon said all of the documents were supposedly signed by the same district chief despite the workers claiming to be from different northern provinces, including Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son. A check with the district office in question indicated the documents were forged, he said. The 43 now face deportation.
Employer to be charged Phuket Immigration will also charge the employer with forgery of government documents, said Major Neti. In a separate arrest, nine unregistered workers from Laos were detained while they were in the back of a pickup on their way to a construction project in Koh Kaew. The arrests were the latest following a crackdown order on illegal aliens working in Phuket. The order was issued by the Immigration Police's Southern Regional Office. The order follows the death of 54 illegal Burmese immigrants who suffocated while being transported in the sealed truck en-route from Ranong to Phuket on April 9. Five suspects are now being held at Ranong Prison and all have been denied bail, Ranong Provincial Police Superinten-dent Maj-General Apirak Hongthong said. Police are now hunting for two more suspects. "We are working very hard to ensure the arrest of all the suspects and to severely punish them as an example to all those involved in the trafficking of illegal immigrants," Apirak said.
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