Determinants of labour exploitation: examples from Myanmar's migrant workers in Thailand

尽管缅甸移徙工人在泰国经济中发挥着关键作用，但他们经常在脆弱的条件下工作，面临不同程度的问题和剥削，包括工资低于最低工资、非法扣减工资、住房和生活条件不足、长时间工作、工作场所受伤和其他虐待(Bruni，2020；Harkins，2019年)。虽然人们承认，在泰国，某些就业部门，如农业、渔业或性产业，往往比其他部门更具剥削性，但对于哪些条件影响移民在工作场所易受剥削的问题没有达成共识(Harkins，2019年)。自2018年以来，国际移徙组织(移徙组织)开展的各种主要数据收集活动在探索这些决定因素方面迈出了第一步(Bruni，2020；Munstermann 2019,2018a，2018b)。然而，这些活动的研究产出仅提供了汇总统计数据，没有显示任何回归分析或探讨可能的因果联系。因此，DPhil研究的目的是通过回答以下研究问题和子问题来填补这一空白，并了解不同因素对移民(泰国移民工人)在工作场所易受剥削的影响程度：研究问题：不同因素在多大程度上影响泰国移民在工作场所易受剥削的脆弱性？子问题1：可以做些什么，应该针对谁来减少泰国工作场所的剥削事件？子问题2：哪些因素影响泰国移民在工作场所易受剥削的脆弱性？DPhil研究将遵循定量的方法，并将根据国际移民组织流动监测小组在我的监督下于2020年1月至3月在泰缅边境选定的过境点收集的流动监测调查数据。虽然这项研究的地理范围和外部有效性有限，但这项研究的成果仍将为泰缅背景提供独特的证据基础，并将为现有关于工作场所移民脆弱性的文献增加宝贵的见解。此外，它还将用于为国际移民组织及其在缅甸和泰国的合作伙伴的政策反应提供信息。归根结底，了解移徙者在工作场所的脆弱性的决定因素，特别是在直接转化为业务行动时，有助于造福移徙工人和整个社会。

Despite their key role within Thailand's economy, migrant workers from Myanmar often work in vulnerable conditions where they are exposed to varying degrees of problems and exploitation, which range from being paid below the minimum wage, illegal wage deductions, inadequate housing and living conditions, long-working hours, workplace injuries and other ill treatments (Bruni, 2020; Harkins, 2019). While it is acknowledged that in Thailand some sectors of employment, such as agriculture, fisheries or the sex industry, tend to be more exploitative than others, there is no common understanding of which conditions influence the migrant's vulnerability to exploitation in the workplace (Harkins, 2019). Since 2018, various primary data collection activities carried out by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) took an initial step in exploring such determinants (Bruni, 2020; Munstermann 2019, 2018a, 2018b). However, the research outputs of these exercises only provided summary statistics without displaying any regression analysis or exploring possible causal links. Hence, the aim of this DPhil study is to fill this gap and understand the degree to which different factors impact the migrant's (migrant workers in Thailand) vulnerability to exploitation in the workplace by answering the following research question and sub-questions:Research question: To what extent different factors impact migrant vulnerability to exploitation in the workplace in Thailand?Sub-question 1: What can be done and who should be targeted to reduce instances of exploitation in the workplace in Thailand?Sub-question 2: Which factors impact migrant vulnerability to exploitation in the workplace in Thailand?This DPhil study will follow a quantitative approach and will be based upon IOM Flow Monitoring survey data collected by the IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) team under my supervision between January and March 2020 at selected border-crossing points at the Thai-Myanmar border. While this research has a limited geographical scope and external validity, the output of this study will still provide a unique evidence base for the Thai-Myanmar context and will add precious insights to the existing body of literature on migrant vulnerability on the workplace. In addition, it will be used to inform the policy response of IOM and its partners, both in Myanmar and Thailand. Ultimately, learning about the determinants of migrant's vulnerability on the workplace, especially when directly translated in operational actions, can help benefitting migrant workers and society as a whole.