BANGKOK, June 11 (AP): Thailand's junta threatened Wednesday to arrest and deport all illegal foreign workers, as border officials reported an exodus of Cambodian migrants following last month's military takeover.
Labourers from neighbouring Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar have played a key role in Thai industries such as seafood, agriculture and construction, but they often lack proper work permits.
From now on any illegal migrant workers found in Thailand "will be arrested and deported", Thai army spokeswoman Sirichan Ngathong said.
"We see illegal workers as a threat because there were a lot of them and no clear measures to handle them, which could lead to social problems," she said.
Since the May 22 coup, at least 10,000 Cambodian workers have crossed back, according to Neth Serey, an official at the Cambodian consulate in the Thai border province of Sa Kaeo.
Activists said the migrants were transported in trucks and dumped at the border.
"They feel scared. Some were crying," said Soum Chankea, a coordinator for Cambodian rights group ADHOC, who met with some of them.
Many of the migrants, including women and children, are effectively stranded at the frontier with no money to pay for their journey home, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
There are usually 100 migrants coming through the main Aranyaprathet-Poipet border checkpoint each day, said the IOM acting chief of mission in Cambodia, Leul Mekonnen.
"But we are already seeing more than 1,000 a day and we do not know what the coming days hold."
Construction worker Chea Loeun, who returned from Thailand on Wednesday, said Cambodians feared being arrested by the Thai army.
