VIENTIANE, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Lao labor officials across the country must expedite the process of registering illegal foreign workers, Lao Deputy Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone urged at a meeting held recently.

 

   Officials must register foreign workers and issue them with a temporary work permit for every year they work in Laos, local daily Vientiane Times on Wednesday quoted Sonexay as saying.
 

   Up to the present, over 42,000 foreign workers are registered in Laos, mainly from Vietnam, China and Thailand, and about 23,000 have provided proof of nationality.  

   Sonexay made the statement during a meeting held in capital Vientiane on Tuesday, reviewing the problem of undocumented foreign workers in Laos.
 

   According to local laws and regulations, foreign workers should register and provide proof of nationality to local authorities. Sonexay acknowledged that many foreign workers have been registered and issued with temporary work permits, in an attempt to regulate the increasing number of undocumented migrant workers in the country.

   All illegal foreign workers, who mainly come from neighboring countries, should go to provincial labor and social welfare offices to register under the Labor Law, he said.
 

   The registration and regulation of foreign workers will help to reduce the number of public complaints about the proliferation of illegal migrant workers in Laos, he added.

   "Some Vietnamese workers in particular remained unregistered because labor officials did not want to handle their cases out of concern that it might affect the special relationship between the two countries. This meant they were reluctant to enforce the law with regard to illegal Vietnamese workers," the daily report said.
 

   However, Sonexay underlined all foreign workers must be strictly managed under the country's laws. The purpose of the registration process was not to arrest or fine people but to provide undocumented workers with access to justice and ensure they received protection under the law.
 

   All migrant workers have rights when it comes to negotiating their working conditions and these rights can be upheld by strengthening the legal mechanisms that govern workers' status, the report said.
 

   Laos began registering migrant workers in 2012 to ensure social order and protect their rights in anticipation of the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community.

 

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