Some 80,000 Cambodian migrant workers still working illegally in Thailand: minister

PHNOM PENH, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Minister of Labor and Vocational Training Ith Samheng said Tuesday that about 80,000 Cambodian migrant workers remained undocumented in Thailand.

The minister said in mid-2017, Thailand found that some 400,000 Cambodian migrant workers were undocumented and the finding prompted the Cambodian government to launch a campaign to issue passports and legal documents to them.

He said through the campaign and with close cooperation from the Thai side, Cambodia has sent more than 300 inter-ministerial officials to Thailand to provide those workers with legal documents.

"To date, the campaign is successful because we have provided legal documents to 320,000 out of the 400,000 undocumented migrant workers," Samheng told reporters after a meeting with Thai Ambassador to Cambodia Panyarak Poolthup.

The minister said the campaign will end on June 30 and he was optimistic that the remaining 80,000 undocumented migrant workers will receive legal documents by the deadline.

"Every day, between 2,200 and 2,300 undocumented migrant workers have been granted legal documents," he said.

The campaign came after the Thai government launched a crackdown on illegal migrant workers that led to a mass exodus last year.

According to the Cambodian Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training, approximately 1.06 million Cambodians have been working in Thailand and sending home about 1 billion U.S. dollars a year. Enditem