"Seasonal Migrants Fired From Thai Durian Factory", 8 July 2022

Dozens of undocumented Cambodian migrant workers have been dismissed from a Thai dried-durian factory after being brought there by job brokers, leaving them in a vulnerable state in an incident that underscores the risks of ongoing illegal migration.

Illegal border crossings were on the rise until land borders reopened …, and undocumented migrants in seasonal work are being left in a precarious state as jobs come and go.

Ruk Chanthy, 31, a Cambodian migrant, said he had paid almost $300 to be taken across the border at night through a forest and stream alongside about 20 others. He paid another 1,000 baht, or about $30, before he could start work at the Sunshine International durian factory in Thailand’s Chon Buri province, he said.

Undocumented migrants worked only night shifts and were not allowed to leave the factory premises, he said…

Leong Sophon, project officer for Central, said about 40 Cambodian and 100 Burmese workers were dismissed … from the Sunshine International in Chon Buri as the durian season came to an end.

The workers had been brought to work at the factory by a broker, and they were easily dismissed due to their lack of documentation when the seasonal work ran out, he said.

“They work for a month or two, and later they are dismissed and told … they need to leave because they are illegal,” Sophon said, adding that the brokers may have promised them passports and legal documentation as part of the border-crossing fee…