The Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) will help the Burmese government issue over 5,000 Burmese National Identification Cards (ID) to migrant Shan workers in Thailand at Homong Township in Lingkhe District, Southern Shan State.
Following an agreement between the RCSS and the Burmese government Shan migrant workers currently working in Thailand will be called to Homong to receive their IDs with the first group receiving their IDs from 18 May to 18 June, said Colonel Sai Hla, an RCSS spokesperson.
He said: “The government has approved the issuing of national IDs to Shan State migrant workers in Thailand. We will be responsible for feeding them and for the security of the government staff who will come and work in the ID card issuing process. We have already received a list of over 5,000 migrant workers who need to be issued with IDs. We are just mediating and helping the process.”
Nan Mai, who is collecting the names of Shan migrant workers in Bangkok said: “We also request that the authorities [the RCSS] do this again after we have completed the process [of issuing ID cards this time]. We do not know if this will be successful because the cost of travelling to Homong Township from central Thailand will be about 3,000 baht and they [the Shan] must have an ID card to travel in Thailand.”
The Shan People’s Group, which was formed in the middle of 2013, has collected a list of migrant Shan workers who have no ID. According to their list there are over 3,000 Shan people in the Chiang Mai area without ID.
They have also collected the names of about 1,000 Shan in other areas who do not have IDs.
Translated by Aung Myat Soe English version written by Mark Inkey for BNI