Thailand : No Thai workers in Syria: Labour Ministry

Major News of <The Nation> :  No Thai workers in Syria: Labour Ministry

Thai News Agency July 24, 2012 3:38 pm

No Thai labourers are currently working in the Syrian Arab Republic, where fierce fighting and other violence is now endemic, according to Thailand’s Labour Ministry.

Prawit Khiangphon, director general of Thailand’s Employment Department, confirmed on Monday that there are no Thai workers in Syria.

Some 13 Thai labourers, who were permitted to work in restaurants and Thai-style massage parlours there since 2009, returned to Thailand several months ago.

No other skilled Thai workers have been employed in Syria either, Prawit said. Syria suspended construction-related employment, as it has had no city development plans, infrastructure or any building of industrial facilities for many years.

Violence has rocked the Syrian capital Damascus with Syrian rebels battling President Bashar al-Assad’s forces. Unrest has spread to Aleppo, Syria’s main commercial and industrial hub, where rebels are also battling government forces.

The ongoing uprising has left more than 19,000 people dead in total, including soldiers, non-combatant civilians and rebels, across the country since fighting erupted in March 2011. 

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