Unabated nationalism, tinged with xenophobic outlooks, may be running counter to the successful establishment of the ambitious Asean Economic Community (AEC) in 2015, barely 3 years from now, said participants at a seminar held in Chiangmai yesterday.

“Migrants have been with us for more than ten years,” said a male Thai activist. “Yet our treatment of them is still way below par.”

The seminar entitled “Civil Society and the Media working together to find a voice for migrants in the era of Asean economic integration,” organized by MAP Foundation expects continued influx of migrants from Burma after 2015.

“So far, Asean is only considering people in 7 categories of profession, who it says can reside and work anywhere: engineers, doctors, dentists, accountants, nurses, surveyors and architects,” said one of the main panelists, Kanchana Di-ut. “But what about migrant workers?

The National Security Council (NSC) headed by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra “primarily sees” migrants as security threats. “It’s time they changed their outlooks,” said well known activist Pranom Somwong. “A change of name may also help: What about Human Security Council instead of National Security Council?”

AEC is said to be aiming for reduction in poverty, reduction in socio-economic disparities and promotion of development within its 10 member countries.
There are about 150,000 migrants from Burma in and around Chiangmai and another 150,000 along its border districts, according to a MAP official Saengmueng Mangkorn, who is also President of the Taiyai Education and Culture Association (TECA). “Only one sixth of them are properly registered,” he told SHAN.

The total migrant population in the kingdom is estimated by migrant assistance groups at 3 million.

Due to continued human rights violations and increased land confiscations in Burma’s Shan State, the stream of migrants coming to Thailand has not stopped despite a ceasefire agreement having signed between Naypyitaw and the Shan State Army (SSA). Moreover, continued fighting between the Burma Army and the SSA in spite of the ceasefire agreement has further aggravated the situation in the countryside, where the bulk of migrants originates.