Cambodian migrant workers face an uncertain future

Migrant workers re-enter Cambodia through the Daung International Border Check Point between Cambodia and Thailand, in Kamrieng

Hundreds of thousands of Cambodian migrant workers have been heading home from Thailand as the two countries work to keep a ceasefire in armed clashes along their border.

Tensions between the countries have escalated due to disputes over pockets of land along their 800-kilometer border. A five-day clash in July left at least 43 people dead and displaced more than 260,000 in both Southeast Asian nations.

A fragile ceasefire brokered by Malaysia, with backing from the U.S. and China, appears to be holding while officials try to resolve issues underlying the conflict. The retreat has left many of the workers streaming back to Cambodia wondering how to get by after they left jobs that enabled them to send money back to their families.

Kri Phart, a 56-year-old poultry worker, said he began packing after reading a post by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet on Facebook urging migrants to return to Cambodia.

“I have no idea if the fighting will really stop and with fewer and fewer Cambodians in Thailand, I got nervous,” said Kri Phart, seated on a stoop with two big bags of belongings and a big electric fan. “I didn’t want to be the last Cambodian migrant in Thailand.”

“I got scared because of the border conflict,” said Kri Phart, one of thousands of Cambodians streaming shoulder-to-shoulder through the Daung International Border Gate last week, hauling rainbow colored bags, appliances and even guitars in the 40 Celsius heat.

“Many of the Cambodians I knew working in Thailand ran away. Everyday more and more of us fled,” he said.

The reasons driving Cambodians to flee Thailand are varied. Human rights activists reported that some migrant workers had been attacked by gangs of young Thais. Others were alarmed by unsubstantiated rumors that the Cambodian government would seize their land and revoke their citizenships if they didn’t return home by mid-August.

Cambodia’s Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training estimates 1.2 million Cambodians were working in Thailand when the border disputes began to escalate in June. Estimates vary, but Sun Mesa, a ministry spokesman said at least 780,000 — about 65% — have returned to Cambodia.

He said the workers could find jobs with equal pay and benefits back home. Many of those who were driven by poverty or climate change to leave for work in Thailand expressed doubts.

“Now that I am back, there is going to be no income for a while and this will really put my family in a bad situation,” said Thouk Houy, 26, who left a job at a leather factory south of Bangkok that enabled her to send $70 to $100 a month back to her parents.

“I’m the last of my siblings who is still single, meaning it’s my responsibility to support my parents. I don’t know how I can do that now that I am back home,” she said.

Minor spats between Cambodian and Thai workers at the factory and her mother’s nightly pleas for her to go home were factors behind her decision to leave, she said. Handing over her belongings to be strapped into the back of a precariously packed van, Thouk Houy said the clincher was a claim by influential former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, father of the current prime minister, Hun Manet, that Thailand was preparing to invade.

“Now that I’m home, what will I do to make a living?” she said.

Migrant workers fill vital roles in Thailand’s farming, construction and manufacturing industries. They also send home close to $3 billion in remittances each year, according to labor ministry data.

The loss of that income can be devastating for families relying on it to manage big debts, said Nathan Green, an assistant professor of geography at the National University of Singapore.

“These kinds of conflicts demonstrate how precarious migrant livelihoods are in Cambodia,” Green said.

An overseas advocacy group, the Khmer Movement for Democracy, has urged the government to defer loan payments and provide incentives for companies to hire returning migrants.

“Without economic safeguards, families of returning migrants will not be able to repay their debts and financial institutions will be at their throats,” said Mu Sochua, the group’s president. “We are talking about the poorest of the poor, who will be deprived of incomes.”

Meng Yeam, who was trying to wave down a taxi while keeping an eye on his belongings, said he managed to send his family back home 20,000 baht (roughly $600) while working as a manager at a rubber factory in eastern Thailand’s Chonburi Province.

More than 90% of the Cambodians working in the factory have left, the 32-year-old said.

Meng Yeam said he expected his family to be okay, though it won’t be able to save as much as it did while he was working in Thailand. And he was glum about the prospects for things to return to normal.

“Cambodia and Thailand need each other to do well, but for now, it seems like we just cannot get along,” Meng Yeam said. “I hope we can work in Thailand again one day, but who knows, maybe I will be retired by the time we stop fighting.” ANTON L. DELGADO & SOPHENG CHEANG, KAMRIENG, MDT/AP