Thai authorities exploiting Myanmar migrants: Human Rights Watch

Myanmar nationals seeking refuge in Thailand are being routinely harassed, extorted, and detained by Thai authorities, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a new report released Monday. The 48-page report documents widespread abuses by Thai police and immigration officers, particularly in the Thai border town of Mae Sot, where Myanmar refugees are often treated as “walking ATMs,” the reports says. HRW found that officers frequently stop and interrogate undocumented migrants, demanding bribes under threat of arrest or deportation. Even those who pay are not safe from being detained and forcibly returned to Myanmar, where they risk persecution, violence, and humanitarian disaster. Instead of receiving protection, Myanmar nationals are being exploited by the very system that should offer them safety, Sunai Phasuk, HRW’s senior researcher on Thailand told Myanmar Now. “Thailand is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 protocol,” he said. “As a result, refugees and asylum seekers, including those from Myanmar, are treated as illegal migrants, making them vulnerable to exploitation, extortion, arrest, and deportation.” The 2021 military coup in Myanmar triggered a mass exodus of Myanmar nationals fleeing into Thailand to escape conflict, economic collapse, and repression. To remain in the country, many are forced to apply for temporary work permits due to Thailand’s lack of a legal framework for asylum seekers. Most rely on brokers, who charge high fees to help them obtain the necessary documents. In Mae Sot, Myanmar nationals are also forced to pay for unofficial “police cards” as part of an extortion scheme operated by local security personnel, according to HRW. The cards, sold through brokers for about 300 baht (US$9) a month, offer no legal protection, but are meant to reduce the risk of arrest or deportation. Migrants are required to submit a photo and are given a broker’s number to call if detained. Migrants who are unable to afford the monthly fee are left with few options. Targeted for extortion Many resort to hiding in remote rural areas with little electricity or clean water, according to interviews conducted for the report. An estimated 20,000 undocumented Myanmar nationals live in such conditions around Mae Sot. One pregnant woman told HRW that she couldn’t even afford the fare to a clinic for her first prenatal exam, fearing arrest due to her undocumented status. In several cases, migrants were still detained and deported despite paying brokers. One woman told researchers she and her 12-year-old niece were held for nine days before being forcibly returned to Myanmar, despite having paid brokers’ fees. Mass deportations continue nationwide, often with little regard for the risks migrants face upon return. The report found that many Myanmar nationals in Mae Sot have faced harassment, arrest, and in some cases, deportation by Thai police. Interviewees described constant surveillance and a climate of fear, with one UN official saying authorities actively target undocumented migrants for extortion. “After fleeing conflict, persecution, and deprivation, Myanmar nationals need protection in Thailand,” said Nadia Hardman, refugee and migrant rights researcher at HRW. “Instead, Thailand denies them secure legal status, and its authorities use that vulnerability to exploit and extort them.” Mae Sot, a major crossing point connected to Myanmar’s Myawaddy via the Friendship Bridge, has long been a hub for trade and migration. The surge in the number of displaced Myanmar nationals in the area since the 2021 coup has strained local resources and resulted in intensifying crackdowns. It’s not the first time that Myanmar migrants have been faced with a range of vulnerabilities and exploitation in Thailand. In 2018, HRW found that forced labour and widespread rights abuses persisted in Thailand’s fishing industry, despite government reforms. Migrant workers, mostly from Myanmar and Cambodia, were often trapped in abusive conditions, with reports of withheld wages, document confiscation, debt bondage, and physical abuse. Transnational repression In some cases, Myanmar migrants and refugees face targeted deportations despite being at-risk refugees who would face severe punishment or abuse upon returning to Myanmar. Last year, HRW researchers documented multiple cases of transnational repression in Thailand, where exiled activists, journalists, and dissidents from countries like Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, and China have faced surveillance, harassment, abduction, or forced return, often in coordination with their home governments. “In the face of ongoing armed conflicts in Myanmar, Thai authorities have routinely rounded up and forcibly returned people who crossed the border, treating them summarily as illegal migrants without any effective and credible assessment of their need for asylum,” Sunai told Myanmar Now. “Successive Thai governments have adhered to an agreement with the Myanmar military regime to quell activities of pro-democracy and resistance groups.” He added that Thai officials continue to ignore their responsibilities under both customary international law and Thailand’s own anti-torture legislation, which are meant to prevent people from being forcibly returned to places where they could face persecution, torture, or other serious harm. Sunai noted that transnational repression persists in the country due to weak legal protections and ongoing cooperation between Thai and Myanmar authorities, both at the policy level and among officials operating on the ground. Thailand’s lack of legal protections for asylum seekers and its close security ties with authoritarian neighbours have made it a hotspot for such repression. As a way to combat the exploitation, HRW strongly urges Thailand to implement a temporary protection system for Myanmar nationals fleeing conflict and persecution. The UN refugee agency UNHCR has also called on countries to halt forced returns, stressing that those escaping Myanmar must be allowed to seek asylum and be protected from deportation. “Inevitably, Thailand is perceived as siding with the Myanmar military regime and playing a key role in worsening the plights of the oppressed people who cross the border to escape violence, abuses, and hardship,” said Sunai.

Thai authorities exploiting Myanmar migrants: Human Rights Watch

Thousands of Myanmar nationals fleeing war and repression are harassed and exploited by Thai authorities, new report reveals

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