THA: Thailand's Burmese Migrant Workers Face Possible Deportation As Thailand Deadline Looms

MAHACHAI, THAILAND - FEBRUARY 25: Burmese migrants ride a bicycle in a Burmese community where many work in the seafood industry February 25, 2010 in Mahachai, Thailand. Migrant workers, mostly Burmese, are running into more difficult times as many face deportation as an approaching deadline set by the Thai government nears that forces foreign workers to go through a nationality verification process. Among the 3 million migrants, many are poorly paid, and face extortion, arbitrary detention, forced labour and physical abuse, with many of the undocumented workers coming from Myanmar. Today Thai soldiers shot dead three migrant children from Burma who were traveling in a pick-up truck when their driver failed to stop at a checkpoint. They say a three-year-old girl and two boys, aged six and 16, were killed instantly and four other Burmese nationals said to be migrant workers, were wounded in the shooting.The incident occurred in Ranong province around 550K. south of Bangkok. The Thai government has been criticized by several Human Rights organizations for increasing contempt for refugees and ast December Thailand expelled more than 4,000 Hmong back to Laos. (Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)