24 December 2015, Myanmar Times
The report into working conditions in Thailand’s poultry industry named three licensed Myanmar recruiting firms – Yun Nadi Oo, Arbourfield and Top Today Star – that were sending workers to Thailand through official channels established under a 2003 memorandum of understanding.
The report by European NGOs Swedwatch and Finnwatch said the workers, despite going through legal channels, were no better off financially and just vulnerable to abuse as their undocumented counterparts.
U Aye Myint, director of the Yun Nadi Oo Overseas Company, denied one the most damning allegations – that the agencies had charged high recruitment fees that pushed workers into steep debt before they even started work.
While the workers reported being charged between K300,000 and K450,000 by the agency, U Aye Myint said the whole process including the cost of travel, accommodation and work documents such as passports, came out to K200,000, which he claimed was industry standard, and in line with the MoU procedure.
“We have never charged these kinds of enormous fees,” he said. “I would like to ask them who told them that.”
He did admit that his company held onto the workers’ passport, leaving them with only their labour cards, until the debt was settled through regular salary deductions.
“Who would take responsibility and who would pay back their debt if we did not hold their passport?” he said, adding that his company has had to pay back the money owed by 80 workers who ran away despite not having a passport in hand.
He said the workers also owe their employer 10,000 baht (US$277) for arranging a work permit, visa and registration, and that if the workers need to leave early or want their documents back, they must pay the fee.