Myanmar migrant workers stranded at a special economic zone (SEZ) in northern Laos catering to Chinese gamblers staged a rare protest last week in a bid to return home amid an outbreak of the coronavirus, saying they haven\u2019t been paid in months and can no longer afford food or rent.<\/p>\n
Up to 5,000 workers of different nationalities are employed at the Golden Triangle SEZ in Bokeo province, which lies along Laos\u2019 shared borders with Thailand and Myanmar.<\/p>\n
Bokeo is a hotspot for coronavirus transmission, and the SEZ\u2019s main tourist draw\u2014the Kings Romans Casino\u2014has seen business plummet during the pandemic. The SEZ is now guarded by Chinese security guards assigned to prevent workers from leaving amid a lockdown aimed at preventing further spread of the disease.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of protesting Myanmar workers on Friday demanded that Lao and SEZ authorities allow them to return home or provide them with food and financial aid enabling them to remain in Laos, workers told RFA\u2019s Lao Service.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of the lockdown, we have not been paid for months. We have been abandoned,\u201d one protesting worker said on Monday. \u201cWe have no money of our own to pay rent or buy food, and we\u2019ve received no financial aid.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn addition, we have to pay for COVID-19 testing too,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s calm now,\u201d a Lao worker in the SEZ told RFA, adding that soldiers and police officers had come to the SEZ on Friday to break the protest up. \u201cThey protested because many of them lost their jobs in construction and at restaurants in the SEZ because of the lockdown,” he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey want either to go home or to get some help.”<\/p>\n
\u201cThey protested because they have been jobless and confined in the Golden Triangle SEZ for months and haven\u2019t received any aid,\u201d another Lao worker said. \u201cThey protested even though the authorities told them not to,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Laos has recorded eight deaths from nearly 8,400 coronavirus cases.<\/p>\n
‘Business as usual’<\/strong><\/p>\n Also speaking to RFA, the owner of a small shop outside the SEZ noted that another outbreak of COVID-19 had recently hit the SEZ, prompting the latest lockdown.<\/p>\n \u201cMany Burmese workers have families including young children, and they can\u2019t afford to live here without working. So they want to go home to Myanmar,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Reached for comment, a member of the Golden Triangle SEZ management team said that the Myanmar workers\u2019 protest had ended, and that \u201cit\u2019s business as usual again.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe protest was initiated by some kind of misunderstanding about COVID-19 testing,\u201d he said. \u201cThe SEZ management team negotiated with the protesters for two hours, and then the protesters agreed to go back to their dormitory and the management agreed to take care of the workers.\u201d<\/p>\n Some go home<\/strong><\/p>\n After Friday\u2019s protest, Lao authorities informed Myanmar border officials that some of the Myanmar workers were planning to go home, \u201cand on Monday at least half of the nearly 2,000 Burmese workers in the SEZ have been allowed to return,\u201d the management team member said.<\/p>\n \u201cAs for the rest of the Burmese workers, their employers in the SEZ have promised to look after them during the current lockdown from Aug. 4 to Aug. 18,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Companies and employers in the SEZ have a duty to look after the welfare of their workers, agreed an official in the Bokeo provincial administration with responsibility for overseeing the Golden Triangle SEZ.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd their workers can always complain to our authorities if their employers don\u2019t keep their promises,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Lao workers in the SEZ who want to return home to their own provinces should register with the appropriate authorities, the management team member said, adding that around 150 Lao workers have already done so.<\/p>\n \u201cThey can go home after the lockdown ends in about two weeks. But during these first two weeks during the lockdown, no one can get out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In May last year, approximately 6,000 Lao and foreign workers were present in the SEZ, with about half that number left in the SEZ today, the management team member said. Of that number, around 2,000 came from Myanmar, with the remaining number made up by Lao workers and Chinese.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Radio Free Asia\u00a0–Copyright \u00a9 1998-2016, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036Radio Free Europe–Copyright (c) 2015. RFE\/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"