“At first, I thought we’d have to be in Thailand for a short period,” said the former National League for Democracy member, one of millions in Myanmar who fled their homes after the 2021 military coup plunged the country into civil war.
“We planned to go back as soon as peace was restored, but we have been here for around four years already,” he told Thai PBS World, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The 40-year-old man stated that he had paid 17,000 baht (US$540) to register with Thai authorities through an agency but had been unable to find a factory job.
“Both my wife and I were rejected, probably because we are too old,” he said. “But at least our grown-up child has landed a job.”
The Myanmar asylum-seeker shared his story with Thai PBS World on the eve of International Migrants Day, which falls on December 18.
Designated by the United Nations, the occasion shines a spotlight on the invaluable contributions made by millions of migrants around the world, but also their precarious lives at the mercy of hostile authorities, corrupt officials and predatory agencies.
Migrants’ children left stateless
Born to Myanmar parents, Yim has lived in Thailand since her birth 23 years ago. However, along with countless others in her situation, her parents did not register her birth, so she is not recognised as a Thai citizen.
“My parents believed that being born in a Thai hospital would be enough,” the young woman said.
Her parents fled Myanmar as university students to escape political violence in 1997. Five years later, Yim was born in Thailand.
“I have never visited Kachin State or my parents’ hometown there,” she said.
When her parents discovered that without a birth certificate, she could be left stateless, they contacted the hospital where she was delivered.
“They reached out to the hospital when I turned 6, but staff there couldn’t find the birth record,” Yim said.
She now worries about her future because, despite holding a bachelor’s degree in logistics from Thonburi University, there is little hope for her finding a full-time job in the private sector.
“I used to work for the Human Rights and Development Foundation, which assists and empowers migrants. But I was laid off after the Trump administration withdrew overseas funding [earlier this year] for NGOs like mine,” Yim said.
She now struggles to make ends meet, working part-time as an interpreter at health clinics.
Teenager Nunu shares Yim’s predicament: she was made stateless after her migrant parents failed to register her birth here in Thailand. As a result, she has had to work to pay for her own education since the age of 14, after her family could no longer afford the school fees.
“I am working on a corn plantation so I can keep studying. It’s getting harder and harder because school fees rise each year,” she lamented, “But I know that if I drop out, I will likely be stuck in a low-paying job for the rest of my life.”
Fellow teenager Kin fled Myanmar for Thailand with his parents about a year ago after his grandfather was targeted by the junta for his political activism.
“Cultural differences and language barriers here have crushed my dreams for the future,” the youngster said. “I don’t even know whether I should go to school.”
Situation worsening
Thailand is now home to more than four million migrant workers from Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Recent estimates suggest around 1 million are undocumented.
The high number of unregistered migrant workers is blamed mainly on complicated procedures for obtaining work permits under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Myanmar’s junta.
Without a work permit, workers have no protection under the labour law, leaving them vulnerable to low wages, sudden dismissal and other forms of exploitation.
They are also barred from the social security scheme, which provides free healthcare and other welfare benefits. Pregnant undocumented migrants are also denied free childbirth services and cannot claim child allowance.
They cannot use banks to open savings accounts or for financial transactions. Neither can they buy a phone SIM card without documents.
“The complicated registration process is adding to the hardships faced by migrant workers,” said Adisorn Kerdmongkol of the Migrant Working Group.
Under the MoU, new and renewed work permits require approval from the Myanmar junta. However, Myanmar nationals now fear possible repercussions from registering as migrant workers due to the violence and turmoil at home.
The junta has also threatened to cancel work permits for those who refuse to remit at least 25 percent of their wages through regime-controlled banks at an official exchange rate worth barely half the market rate.
“We estimate that less than half of more than two million migrant workers in Thailand will get approval for their work-permit renewal,” Adisorn said.
Suthasinee Kaewleklai of the Migrant Workers Rights Network (MWRN) said the complicated procedures have also pushed migrant workers into the hands of private agencies.
“More often than not, they end up getting overcharged or cheated,” she said.
She highlighted the case of 14 Myanmar workers who were recently arrested in Chon Buri after their work permits expired.
They told police they had paid a labour agency to renew their permits, only to discover the agency had given them a fake document claiming their names were on the official list.
Deportation will put them in grave danger. They fled their homeland because of war and political persecution,” Suthasinee warned.
Adisorn said Thailand’s political instability has worsened migrant-worker management, resulting in delays, loopholes, and other problems.
He is particularly worried about the half a million Cambodian migrants in Thailand whose annual work permits are due to expire in March.
“Recent Cabinet resolutions covered renewal of work permits for Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam nationals, but not those from Cambodia,” he said.
Adisorn also fears that conservative political parties such as Bhumjaithai might exploit the ongoing Thai-Cambodian border conflict by introducing nationalist policies to drum up support for a general election due on February 8.
He noted that public sentiment often drives government policy – whenever hostility against migrant workers rises, their legal protections tend to fall.
Since the eruption of fighting on the border earlier this year, Cambodian workers in Thailand have faced tighter inspection and harsher treatment by authorities.
