Govt To Issue Foreigners With Temporary Working Visas
The government will register foreigners and issue them with temporary working visas in a bid to regulate the increasing number of undocumented migrant workers in Laos.
Registration and issuance of temporary working visas for foreigners will begin this month and end in March next year.
The plan was outlined at a press conference yesterday in Vientiane co-chaired by Director General of the Labour Management Department under the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, Mr Phongxaysak Inthalath, and Acting Director General of the Immigration Department under the Ministry of Public Security, Lieutenant Colonel Saysaming Sivilay.
The government has assigned the labour-social welfare and security sectors to coordinate the registering and issuing of temporary visas for overseas workers. The move aims to effectively address the problem and ensure social order while protecting the rights and interests of migrant workers as the Asean Economic Community comes into being.
These sectors will be tasked with encouraging all relevant units to actively participate in the process.
Although worker migration is unavoidable in today’s modern world, every country tries to control immigration in line with their respective laws and regulations. In Laos, the issue of migrants entering the country to work illegally has become a chronic problem.
“The new measures are aimed at collecting information and identifying the number of foreigners working illegally so authorities can then assign resources to best regulate the situation and avoid the complexities of the past,” Mr Phongxaysak said.
He called on all relevant sectors and people to actively participate in resolving the problem. Ministries, government departments at all levels, the manufacturing and service sectors, and special economic zones across the country are encouraged to make sure that foreign workers register for temporary working visas.
If foreigners persist in working illegally or other people facilitate their unlawful actions, officials would strictly enforce the regulations, he said.
Source: Vientiane Times