Articles from this category from BurmaNet News)

There are an estimated 1 million illegal immigrants from Burma and other neighboring countries working in Thailand. Migrant
workers from Burma come from a variety of geographical locations and ethnic groups and work in several different industries
and service sectors in Thailand. There are both push and pull factors at work when people make the decision to migrate to
Thailand. The pull factors include the close geographical location of Thailand to Burma as well as the demand in Thailand for

Migrant artist shares his earnings with the refugees who people his canvases...

"Suffering from depression and weighed down by the hardships of life in Burma, Maung Maung Tinn finally decided to leave his home town, Moulmein, capital of Mon State. That was in 1994.

As the rainy season nears its end, SPDC operations in northern Papun District persist. Civilians living in Lu Thaw township in northern Papun District who fled from military attacks on their villages earlier in the current offensive have been joined by those more recently displaced. So long as military forces remain active in the area of their abandoned homes, these villagers are unable to return to tend their crops, collect possessions and reclaim their land.

...There are currently more than 135,000 refugees living in Thailand. Refugees from Burma are also in refugee camps along the
Bangladeshi and Indian borders, as well as working and living in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Malaysia. The line between
refugee and migrant is a thin one and there are also an estimated 1 million migrant workers living in Thailand who have fled from
their homes for many of the same reasons that official refugees have. (The topic of migrant workers from Burma is covered in

Correspondent Anne Fletcher meets former activists of the 88 Generation who made new lives o­n the other side of the world...

"The menacing group of five soldiers emerged from Rangoon’s city hall, knelt down and aimed their guns at the protesters. Tin Maung Htoo, a 16-year-old high school student, sat tight, linking arms with others in the front row.

The first shots Tin Maung Htoo heard, however, sounded like machine gun fire from armored cars sweeping round both sides of the Sule Pagoda o­n that August night, 19 years ago.

Trafficking and Militarized Femininity on the Burma-China Border

The situation of Internally Displaced People (IDP?s), in Burma remained critical throughout 2001. The US State Department
estimates that there could be up to1 million members of ethnic minority groups who the SPDC has forcibly relocated from their
villages and districts, and who are currently living along the Thai border. Reports from NGOs also estimate that an additional 1
million IDP?s are living a precarious existance in other locations throughout the country...

In Thailand's Tak province there
are 60,520 registered migrant
workers and an estimated 150,000
unregistered migrant workers from
Burma. Fleeing the social and political
problems engulfing Burma, they are
mostly employed in farming, garment
making, domestic service, sex and
construction industries. There is also
a significant number of Burmese
living in camps. Despite Thailand�s
developed public health system and
infrastructure, Burmese women face
language and cultural barriers and

By 1993, 18.2 million men, women, and children across the world had left their homelands to escape persecution and violence. An average of 10,000 refugees a day were forced to flee the year before, as new upheavals forced out new victims. At least another 24 million were displaced within their own countries. Yet despite these staggering numbers and the backlash they have provoked in overburdened countries of asylum, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees believes there is a solution to the international refugee crisis.

Since Hillary Clinton’s historic visit to Myanmar, the nation’s reforms have drawn the world’s attention. The end of a half century of military rule leaves Myanmar with countless challenges. Recently, the violence in western Myanmar’s Rakhine State has become a controversial topic. Global bodies, human rights organizations, world leaders and US lawmakers have rushed to condemn what they see as the treatment of these stateless people.

Thus far, the government's labor legislation has brought few benefits to Thailand's migrant work force which continues to withstand deep-seated corruption and abuse...However precarious the situation may be for migrant workers in Thailand, it will continue as long as cheap sources of labor remain a vital component for a healthy and vibrant Thai economy. The time is ripe for both the Thai and Burmese governments to implement genuine measures that would help ensure the just and dignified treatment of Burmese workers in Thailand...