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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Burmese Migrants in Thailand Await Changes Back Home
In Thailand there are more than a million registered Burmese migrant workers. The number of unregistered is even greater, and many of them work jobs that Thai laborers2 are often unwilling3 to do.
Working without proper documentation can often lead to arrest and deportation4. But many, like Ta Jandee, say they prefer that risk to returning to Burma.
“When I was living in Burma. I got arrested by Burmese soldiers and they forced me to be a porter. I had to carry supplies for them in the jungle. That was a hard part of my life. That’s why I fled to Thailand,” he said.
The reluctance5 to go back home may be changing, with political reforms underway.
As migrants weigh a return, they are hungry for information about what is happening back home. Many turn to programs produced by the Migrant Assistance Program (MAP), based at a radio station in Chiang Mai, Thailand, just a few hours from the Burmese border.
MAP head Jackie Pollock says the reforms now underway in Burma will hopefully improve working conditions for migrants in Thailand.
“With Burma opening a little bit that is going to put pressure on Thailand because up until now there have been three million workers who had no choices and had no government to speak on their behalf or advocate for them,” Pollock said.
For years, Pollock and a team of Thai and Burmese legal advisers6 have worked as migrant advocates.
“Now it seems that the Burmese government, the ministry7 of labor1 means to be taking up the issue of migrant workers and so hopefully they will start to put a little pressure on Thailand to improve the conditions here,” Pollock said.
Such groups have long been a critical safety net, but there are signs of new help from Burma's government.
Last month, the Burmese government offered to issue certificates of identity to migrant workers in Thailand who wanted to return home.
For expectant parents like Ta Jandee and his wife Lugao, having more legal options is hopefully a sign of good things to come.
“When my child starts school he will need a birth certificate. In the future, I want my child to have higher education. If we still live in Thailand, I want them to study Thai. If we go back to Burma, I want them to study Burmese,” he said.
In the meantime, Ta Jandee says Burma’s ongoing8 armed conflicts that continue in several states still make him wary9 of going back to Burma. For him and many others it could still be months or years before they feel safe enough to return to their home country.
1 labor | |
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦 | |
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2 laborers | |
n.体力劳动者,工人( laborer的名词复数 );(熟练工人的)辅助工 | |
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3 unwilling | |
adj.不情愿的 | |
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4 deportation | |
n.驱逐,放逐 | |
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5 reluctance | |
n.厌恶,讨厌,勉强,不情愿 | |
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6 advisers | |
顾问,劝告者( adviser的名词复数 ); (指导大学新生学科问题等的)指导教授 | |
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7 ministry | |
n.(政府的)部;牧师 | |
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8 ongoing | |
adj.进行中的,前进的 | |
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9 wary | |
adj.谨慎的,机警的,小心的 | |
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