The ministry was planning to send pregnant women back to their native countries so that their babies did not end up stateless, Vice-Minister Pira Manathas was quoted as saying by the Nation.
He said despite objections from labor advocates and experts, a majority of the alien labor management committee members had agreed to prohibit pregnant foreigners from working in Thailand.
A meeting of officials from Labor Ministry, the Interior Ministry, National Security Council and Public Health Ministry would be called before the actual implementation
The ministry would consider allowing those who were registered to work to return to the country after giving birth. The pregnant alien women were among 70,000 Cambodians, Laotians and Myanmarese workers who reported to the authorities for medical check-ups.
However, opponents to the government's decision argued that at least three international laws contained articles forbidding the deportation of pregnant immigrants, and urged the government to ask the workers to report to authorities and decide by themselves whether they wanted to return home.
"It will be a step backward if the government goes ahead with its plan," said Kritaya Archavanitkul, deputy director at Mahidol University's Institute for Population and Social Research.
