1. Prepared for the Training Course on Labour Migration Management, 2009, Khon Kaen, Thailand Source: Mekong Migration Network (MMN)

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3.  Thailand  Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, UAE etc (average of 150,000 Thais leave annually)  Myanmar  Thailand followed by Malaysia, Japan & Singapore etc  China  Japan, South Korea, Singapore, etc  Cambodia  Thailand, Malaysia etc  Lao PDR  Thailand, etc  Vietnam  Cambodia, Taiwan, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea 3

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7.  Estimated 2-4 million migrants  Migrant workersconstruction workers in the fishing industry in agriculture as domestic workers as factory workers in the entertainment industry garbage collectors in mines and quarries 7

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9.  Signed the MOU on Employment Cooperation with Lao PDR, Cambodia and Myanmar in 2002 & 2003.  MOUs have 4 main objectives: -proper procedure for employment of workers; -protection of workers’ rights; -effective repatriation; and -prevention of irregular migrants 9

10.  The first step in implementing the MOUs was for the countries of migrants’ origin to verify the nationality of migrants who were already in Thailand and issue them with some form of identification or travel documents.  Approximately 84,980 Cambodian and Laotian migrants had their nationalities verified and received legal status, as of Feb 2009. (What’s the update?)  Legal migration processes through recruitment agencies (for new migrants.) 10

11.  Myanmar started the process of nationality verification in 2009.  All the registered migrants in Thailand will have to have their nationalities verified by the end of February 2010 or lose their legal status.  So far, 2,000 migrants from Myanmar have had their nationalities verified, posing a significant challenge on administrative procedures. 11

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14.  Lao PDR has been a home to a relatively small number of immigrants from neighbouring countries such as Vietnam and China. The number of Chinese migrants in Lao PDR has been reportedly increasing rapidly the recent years due to a number of development projects. 14

15. How do we respond to this dynamic flows of people in the GMS?... 15

16. Thank you very much! Secretariat offices: Chiang Mai & Hong Kong www.mekongmigration.org 16