Feb 23, 2010 (DVB)-A New York-based rights group has again petitioned the Thai government over its demand that migrants in the country register in the scheme by the end of the month.

The scheme, known as the Nationality Verification (NV) process, has sought to register all migrants and offer them a two-year grace period to stay in Thailand, providing they registered with the scheme by the 28 of February. If migrants fail to make this deadline they face immediate deportation.

A report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) highlights however that 80 percent of migrants in Thailand are from Burma, and many of these are "particularly at risk" from the process. Should they be deported, the report says, "they face ethnic and political conflict in their home country."

HRW said the Nationality Verification process was setting "unrealistic demands on migrants" and that the price of applying for the process was prohibitive.

It "can amount to two or three months of salary" which is "unacceptably high for these migrant communities", while also being complicated and difficult, it said.

"Starting on 1 March, people who are currently documented, who currently have the right to be here in Thailand, will no longer have the right to," said one of the authors of the report, Phil Robertson.

The report further condemns the treatment of migrants whilst in Thailand. HRW claims that "Police abuse migrants with impunity". It used the example of one migrant interviewed in the report who said she witnessed police kick a Burmese youth to death simply for failing to answer them in Thai.

The findings were echoed by the Asia director of HRW, who said that "many officials and police treat migrant workers like walking ATMs".

Robertson further told DVB that: "The police and other people who have been perpetrating these various abuses know very well that that deadline is expiring on the 28th. After the 28th it’s a free for all: the Thai police have shown no reservation so far in basically extorting, abusing, physically beating, torturing and killing migrant workers."

The Thai economy meanwhile is heavily reliant on the cheap labour that migrants from countries such as Burma, Laos and Cambodia provide.

In HRW’s press statement they further criticised working conditions in Thailand, where employers control migrants "by enforcing prohibitions on use of mobile phones and motorcycles, imposing harsh restrictions on movement, outlawing migrant gatherings, and enforcing night time curfews".

DVB found that migrant workers in Mae Sot thought it routine and normal for migrants with full paperwork to have their documentation kept by their employers; intentionally to restrict their freedom of movement.

"This government has said they respect international human rights on a number of occasions and as a point of pride," said Phil Robertson. He further noted that the current Thai strategy to regulate the migrant worker population comes with little incentive for the worker to register.

The report calls for "an independent and impartial commission to investigate allegations of abuse by police and other authorities against migrants. Such a commission should have the power to subpoena, require presentation of evidence, and recommend criminal and civil charges against abusers. It should make public reports on a periodic basis".

Reporting by Joseph Allchin