Migrant crisis hits sugarcane fields

Amid border tensions, Cambodians are told to return home or face the consequences, writes Juan Jocom in Sa Kaeo

- Juan Jocom in Sa Kaeo

The air in Khlong Hat district, Sa Kaeo province, feels light. Rows of neatly planted sugarcane form a backdrop of a quieter, simpler life.

For Cambodian sugarcane farmer Ty Tot, who has been working in Thailand for more than 10 years, the fields once represented stability.

“Thailand is my second home,” Ty Tot said. “I want to stay here forever”

But behind the serene facade of tall green stalks lies a deepening migrant worker crisis that has shaken Thailand's agricultural sector, leaving labourers like Ty Tot uncertain about their future.

Ty Tot is among the few who have chosen to remain in Thailand, while hundreds of thousands have been forced to return to Cambodia. He said many Cambodian migrant workers won't speak about their situation out of fear of retaliation from the Cambodian government.

Some returned home to government promises of work, only to face unpaid forced labour, military service or no jobs at all, Ty Tot said.

MASS EXODUS

The Migrant Working Group (MWG), an advocacy organisation in Thailand, says more than 300,000 Cambodian workers have returned home since Aug 8.

The mass exodus came after the Cambodian government threatened to seize their land, bank accounts and even citizenship if they did not return.

Montri Khumpol, chairman of the Unity of Thailand Sugarcane Planters, said only about 1,000 of the estimated 20,000 migrant workers remain in eastern Thailand.