“I’ll Never Feel Secure” - Undocumented and Exploited: Myanmar Nationals in Thailand
A Myanmar migrant worker at his apartment in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand, January 26, 2025. © 2025 LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP via Getty Images
In this report published by Human Rights Watch, Nadia Hardman writes about the struggles of Myanmar nationals in Thailand who are not recognized as refugees and live in hiding as a result.
This report examines the situation for Myanmar nationals in Thailand since the coup. Many are refugees under international law, even though they have not been recognized as such and there are limited ways in which they can regularize their status in Thailand. These undocumented Myanmar nationals are compelled to seek out security and a livelihood and avoid being returned to repression, conflict and humanitarian crises in Myanmar.
Thailand does not recognize refugees, and the limited measures it has in place for “protected persons” are effectively closed to most Myanmar nationals. As a result, many Myanmar nationals, including children, have no legal access to basic health care, education or work. The reality for many is self-imposed house arrest to avoid the constant risk of extortion, not only from random encounters with Thai police, but also from the semi-formal systems Thai security personnel use to extract money from undocumented migrants.
On February 1, 2021, Myanmar’s military staged a coup and arrested the country’s elected civilian leaders, including de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint. Mass protests quickly proliferated in cities and towns nationwide. The military junta, called the State Administration Council, and led by Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, soon turned on the anti-coup demonstrators, carrying out mass arrests and using deadly force. The security forces targeted individuals perceived as threats to the junta: activists, students, journalists, humanitarian workers, lawyers, and religious leaders. Those taken into custody were subjected to torture, rape, enforced disappearance, and prolonged imprisonment without a fair trial.
