Irregular migration and informal employment status: A human rights dichotomy shifted from migrant worker parents to migrant children in Thailand’s construction project
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Abstract
Despite being a vital component of economic growth, the female migrant workers and their children staying in the construction sites in Thailand face perilous challenges. While female workers experience discriminatory wages, inadequate documentation, and limited access to basic rights, the children of these migrant workers are not covered by public services guaranteed in the Thai national legal framework for migrant laborers. The children as the key dependents of the migrant workers in the construction sector face difficulties accessing basic rights. Using the conceptual framework of irregular migrants, status-lessness, and rightlessness this study analyzes the basic protection deficits, risks, and needs of migrant children living in construction sectors in Thailand. This documentary research summarizes studies, reports, and academic papers in the last several years covering migrant children’s journey from Myanmar and Cambodia and life in the construction site camps in Thailand. The study found that their identity as ‘children’ is largely ignored due to their parents’ identity as irregular migrants, therefore migrant children in Thailand's construction projects are deprived of their basic human rights such as education, healthcare, and protection.
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