Migration from Burma: mixed and general articles and reports

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Websites/Multiple Documents

Description: About 307,000 results (August 2017)
Source/publisher: Various sources via Youtube
Date of entry/update: 2017-08-21
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
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Description: A useful site focussing on helping Thai people to understand the situation in Burma. The main section is in Thai, with a set of articles from 2005-2007 translated into English... "SNN is a project focusing on information and media, working to produce news and information about Burma in Thai language. So far, no organization in Thailand is focusing specifically on this arena, despite the fact that Thai and Burma are neighbors and a large number of people from Burma have fled to Thailand.... Thailand and Burma are neighboring countries but most of Thai people are still not informed and not understand about situations in Burma. One of the reasons is that there is too little information about Burma in Thai language. Hence, Salween News Network was established to produce and to be a center of information about Burma in Thai language.... Main objectives: 1. To produce and collect information (news, articles ,features ,books etc.) about Burma for Thai society.... 2. To create a network among independent Burmese news agencies and Thai news agencies... 3. To train Burmese and Thai journalists to produce news, articles, features etc. about Burma in Thai mainstream media.... Main Activities: 1. Collect information and write news and articles 2. Publish newsletters and books about Burma in Thai language 3. Provide trainings for Burmese and Thai journalists. 4. Organise meeting for Thai and Burmese journalists.... Publication: 1. Salween News Network?s media 1.1 Listserve by [email protected] e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it 1.2 Newsletter ( every 6 weeks) 1.3 Website www.salweennews.org 1.4 Books.... 2. other media including Thai language newspapers and magazines.
Source/publisher: Salween News Network/
Date of entry/update: 2008-04-30
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Individual Documents

Sub-title: The number of buses carrying migrant workers returning from Bangkok through the Myawady border checkpoint in Kayin State has fallen to two a week.
Description: "Since June 2, bus service has been reduced to every Tuesday and Friday from Mo Chit bus station in Bangkok to the Mae Sot-Myawady border as fewer workers are returning home. The Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok has urged migrant workers to register and buy tickets at the embassy office to avoid trouble. It said that from May 1 to June 4, 16,000 workers had returned to Myanmar through Myawady. Thailand announced on June 1 that despite extending its state-of-emergency until the end of June, it would not prevent an estimated 34,000 Myanmar migrant workers from returning home. An estimated 60,000 workers planned to return from Thailand due to the economic downturn caused by the pandemic. U Peter Nyunt Maung, deputy chair of the Myanmar Overseas Employment Agencies Federation, said the workers would likely not be able to get their jobs back, as the Thai government would prioritise giving jobs to its own people when its economy reopens. He added that some 65,000 workers who were trying to get into Thailand when it closed its borders due to COVID-19 in January may also be out of work. Aside from Myawady, workers were also expected to return from Thailand through Kawthoung in Tanintharyi Region..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
2020-06-08
Date of entry/update: 2020-06-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "7,181 migrants returned from Thailand from 22 to 28 May, mainly from Myawaddy-Mae Sot 2,848 migrants returned from China from 22 to 28 May, through Nan Taw and Chin Shwe Haw SITUATION OVERVIEW Returns from Thailand began picking up this week, and from 22 to 28 May, 7,031 migrants returned through MyawaddyMae Sot, and 150 returned through Kawthaung-Ranoung. These include 1,979 migrants whose return was facilitated following coordination between the Embassy of Myanmar in Thailand and Thai authorities, with the rest self-arranging their return. Returnees were also tested for COVID-19 upon arrival to Myanmar, with most returnees, upon confirmation of negative test results, being transported to their communities of origin for quarantine. A total of 45,168 migrants returned from Thailand from 22 March to 28 May. The Department of Labour (DOL) issued a letter on 22 May to the Myanmar Overseas Employment Agency Federation (MOEAF) on the restarting of recruitment procedures for Myanmar migrants seeking migration and employment in Thailand. The letter announced that recruitment procedures are on hold until 31 May, and that Thai authorities will accept migrant workers who have health certificates and who undergo health checks at points of entry. Once recruitment resumes, private recruitment agencies (PRAs) are required to follow the regular recruitment process, which includes a demand letter from Thai employers indicating the need for migrant workers, a clear commitment that migrant workers will receive an employment contract and begin employment within 60 days of deployment, and a commitment to follow COVID-19 related instructions from the Thai Government during the process of applying for employment cards. PRAs are also required to communicate these regulations to respective Thai employers. Should PRAs not follow these instructions, DOL will revoke the license of the PRA concerned..."
Source/publisher: International Organization for Migration (IOM) ( Switzerland) via "Reliefweb" (New York)
2020-05-31
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 550.46 KB - reduce version
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Description: "A total of 90 Myanmar migrant workers returned through the Friendship Bridge No 2 in Myawaddy on 17 May, the 17th consecutive day since the government resumed accepting returnees on 1 May amidst the spread of COVID-19, state media reported. A total of 720 workers have returned home so far since 1st May. According to statistics, the authorities accepted 60 workers on 1 May, 54 on 2 May, one on 3 May, 44 on 4 May, 23 on 5 May, 100 on 8 May, 44 on 10 May, 13 on 11 May, 41 on 12 May, 16 on 13 May, 38 on 14 May, 120 on 15 May, 76 on 16 May, and 90 on 17 May respectively. Local authorities are closely supervising the process of accepting the returnees in line with the COVID-19 fighting guidelines..."
Source/publisher: "Mizzima" (Myanmar)
2020-05-18
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "...Foundation achieves its goals through activities under its four programs: Labour Rights for All (LRA), Rights for All (RFA), Community Health and Empowerment (CHE), and MAP MultiMedia (MMM). Each program has a number of projects which accomplish the broader goals of the program. MAP provides outreach activities to migrant workers and their communities in migrant languages. Capacity building activities reach out to groups of specific focus issues, such as women migrants, domestic workers, HIV+ migrants, and migrant labour leaders..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: MAP Foundation
2017-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2020-03-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : PDF pdf
Size: 1.09 MB 2.01 MB
Local URL:
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Description: "...MAP Multi-Media supports all projects at MAP to produce communication materials in migrant languages to disseminate information to migrant communities on issues of policies, laws, rights, and health. The media formats used include MAP’s two community radio stations at Chiang Mai and Mae Sot, printed materials, audio and video, websites and social media.... This magazine contents are migrant worker card (pink card), type of taxis in Chiang Mai, different type of market in Chiang Mai, post office, public telephone, banking system in Thailand..."
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Source/publisher: MAP Foundation
2005-12-00
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : PDF
Size: 2.38 MB
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Description: "...In 2005, the Women Exchange Get together chose the topic of “Forced Migration and Forced labour” to explore in more depth. Many of the women participating in Women exchange have had personal experience of forced migration and forced labour and have an important part to play in advocacy against such human rights violations. At the same time, the global focus on trafficking in humans has brought a range of debates to the issue which have not always been communicated to women in the field..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: MAP Foundation
2006-03-00
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : PDF
Size: 3.25 MB
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Description: "...MAP Multi-Media supports all projects at MAP to produce communication materials in migrant languages to disseminate information to migrant communities on issues of policies, laws, rights, and health. The media formats used include MAP’s two community radio stations at Chiang Mai and Mae Sot, printed materials, audio and video, websites and social media.... This magazine contents are how to check machine hazards, chemical in the workplace, use protection while working, about fire and fire escape plan...."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: MAP Foundation
2007-12-00
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : PDF
Size: 2.3 MB
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Description: "A total of 130 Myanmar migrant workers are returned to Myawady on January 31 due to a factory closure in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, sources said. The factory is owned by a Chinese and more than 300 workers were working in it. The factory is closed abruptly as raw materials from China cannot send due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus. The migrant workers are working in Thailand under MoU agreement and they had to pay around Ks1 million to work in Thailand officially. The factory closure made them suffer, they said. Wai Lin Maung, a Labour Consul based in Mae Sot, helped the migrant workers to return to Myanmar and went to meet with the recruitment agents to ask compensation for the workers. The labour consul also met with Ye Min and Aung Myat from Aid Alliance Committee (AAC). Ye Min urged officials from Myanmar and Thailand to cooperate to ask compensation for Myanmar workers, who became jobless, due to the factory closure..."
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Source/publisher: "Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
2020-02-01
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "... Table contents, MAP Foundation, Workers Solidarity: Past & Present, Systems of Solidarity: different types of labour organising, Protection of interests, Guilds, Mutual Aid Societies,Trade Unions, Cultural interests, Workers Clubs, Study Group, Workers United: collective actions for justice, What form does collective action take?, Collective Bargaining, Industrial Action, Solidarity Alliances: using external agencies, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Solidarity Groups, Political Parties, Media Migrant Workers Solidarity, migrants forming associations themselves, Contact detail of useful organisations in Thailand...."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: MAP Foundation
2012-05-00
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : PDF
Size: 4.18 MB
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Description: "At least 109 illegal Myanmar migrant workers have been sent back to homeland from Thailand, the Myanmar immigration authorities said on Thursday. The migrant workers including nine women were handed over by Thailand's Ranong Immigration Department through Kawthoung border gate in southern Tanintharyi region on Wednesday. The workers, who were expelled by the Thai authorities for being found with expired visas and without proper documents, were repatriated after paying penalties under Thai law. With healthcare provided, they were being sent back to their respective homes, the immigration department said. In July and August, a total of 258 Myanmar migrant workers were repatriated to homeland from Thailand via the same border gate. Most of the workers are from Tanintharyi, Yangon, Bago and Ayeyarwady regions and Mon and Rakhine states..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
2019-09-26
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Htay Htay is a half Karen half Burman woman who came to Thailand in search of a better life. Now, she lives in a rubbish dump in the outskirts of the border town of Mae Sot on the Thailand-Burma border. Htay Htay is one of about 400 people who live in the dump, all barely making a living by picking up and selling rubbish. Htay Htay says that although they really don?t want to live amidst the rubbish, they have no choice. Read her story to find out why she feels that life ?living in the dirt? is better than life in her home country."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Abstract: "Migration is the act or process of moving from one place to another with the intent of staying at the destination permanently or for a relatively long period of time (1992, Longman). It can also be assumed that people move from one place to another, usually their home place, to work or to settle in another place. As basic factors, migration take place an area where the migrants believe that their opportunity and life circumstances will be better at their destinations than the present location. Nevertheless, if an area where takes place a movement of in-­migration because of positive conditions (pull factors), this will be generally increased the population or human resources. Similarly, if an area where takes place a movement of out-­migration due to negative conditions (push factors), this area will lose their population or human resources. Some time it affects the negative impacts and potential challenges for sustainable socio-­economic development of this area. Therefore, this study is based on some specific areas of Myanmar: Hpa-­an Township, Kayin State and Mrauk-­U Township, Rakhine State where migration process takes place by focusing the question of how and why the people are migrating in these areas. This paper is intended to explore the migration patterns of these are as and to point out the main reasons of push and pull factors for these migrations. To obtain the relevant data, it is analyzed with field observation and in semi-­structured in-­depth interview survey method to the local authorities, experts and local people. Some of the facts from the interview data are assessed by SWOT Analysis to know the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats due to migration. As a result from this study, economic condition is the key factor of the migration for the study areas and that effect on the socioeconomic condition of these areas.".....Paper delivered at the International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015.
Creator/author: Saw Yu May
Source/publisher: International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015
2015-09-04
Date of entry/update: 2015-09-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 724.74 KB
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Description: Abstract: "This paper draws on case studies of Burmese migrants in the city of Chiang Mai, Thailand, to explore concepts and theories of migration, uneven development and acculturation in which migrants engages in the new environment of urban societies. It examines the new emergence of push-­pull factors of migration, mainly economic reason and urban attractions, which bring Burmese migrants into the city. Further, the paper pays more attention on the concept of uneven development, which comes along with the process of development in urban areas. It discusses about the cities like Chiang Mai as a place where provides residents to access not only greater opportunities for work, activity and key good as well as services, but the places also emerge alongside rising urban inequality for a certain group of people, particularly Burmese migrant workers are recognized as a local symbol of inequality in Chiang Mai, as well as in Asia region. Lastly, the paper focuses analytical attention on ?way of life? of Burmese migrants of varying cultural, social, political and economic backgrounds, which it responds to the narratives a bout urban diversity and development of the city of Chiang Mai where they encounter. Based on acculturation framework, cultural way of life of Burmese migrants living in Chiang Mai is classified into three main areas; assimilation, separation and integration, and each area of way of life would be adapted by different generations of the migrants. Therefore, one can see the social phenomenon of Burmese migrants, especially Shan ethnic group, would emerge through Thai society in the city at different levels of lifestyles.".....Paper delivered at the International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015.
Creator/author: Tithirat Pripotjanart
Source/publisher: International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015
2015-07-26
Date of entry/update: 2015-08-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 375.18 KB
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Description: "In recent years migration studies have theorized that 21st-century migration is following patterns that both incorporate and diverge from academic and policymaking explanations of late 20th-century migration. The case of Myanmar, whose out-migration is well-known and well-enumerated, nevertheless shows both a less-known pattern of in-migration in rural areas as well as environmental (and not only economic) factors in both in- and out- migration. James Clifford?s earlier, Asia-Pacific-focused work Routes, published in 1997, was influential in modifying the conventional academic foci on migration. Addressing the ?subjectivity” of the ethnographers of peoples and migrations and their subjects as more an issue of shared, though differing, ideas of movement and space, he brought a new awareness of the interplay between semantic webs purportedly possessed by fieldwork subjects and their would-be interpreters among scholars. He followed this work with a particular narrative of Native American migration in Returns, published in 2013. Both of these works open the door for new attempts to study and interview migrants in their own situations and to grasp the diversity of migration beyond push-pull factors. One burgeoning methodology within this new research initiative was that of ethnographic interviews with migrants. Clifford had revealed an extremely human, molecularly detailed side of interviewees and respondents. Newer works began to concentrate almost exclusively on the migrants? own narratives and to pull slighter, more localized explanations from them in the same mode as Charmaz?s grounded theory. Here were the roots of ?new migration? ideas. With the wealth of published data becoming available from migrants worldwide, small and large differences between their experiences and general migration theory became more apparent...".....Paper delivered at the International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015.
Creator/author: Lynn Thiesmeyer
Source/publisher: International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015
2015-08-28
Date of entry/update: 2015-08-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 308.21 KB
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Description: Abstract: "This article aims to explain the relations of Mon diaspora at Baan Wang Ka, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand with their homeland. It argues that such relationships are diverse and reflect the complexity of notion of ?Bifocality” explaining that homeland is the place of spiritual and cultural roots while host countries are more associated with economic and livelihoods. Mon diaspora has been living in Baan Wang Ka since AD. 1948. The ethnic suppression policies in Myanmar are the major cause of transnational mobility of these people, although, in the later periods, some of them left their homeland to go to Thailand for trading and eventually resettled at the village. Currently, Mon people in the village include four generations who were from Myanmar and heirs of those from Myanmar, however these people associate with their homeland differently. Some relate to their homeland as the place of spiritual and identity of Mon origin. For others, their connections to homeland have to do more with economic than cultural and spiritual dimensions. Such diverse relationships related to not solely generation differences and causes of migration, but also individual?s experience, economic opportunity, legal status, social status in Thailand as well as religious belief. On another score, the diversity of relationships has also associated with their homeland and host country contexts.".....Paper delivered at the International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015.
Creator/author: Patcharin Lapanu
Source/publisher: International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015
2015-07-26
Date of entry/update: 2015-08-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 231.88 KB
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Description: Abstract: "Migration for employment has been a global challenge in today?s world along with the rising figure of world migration population. For that reason, the drawbacks of labour migration need to be managed effectively based on understanding the real context of migrant workers in the country in which they work. Based on the pursuit of this interest, an ethnographic study has been been conducted to explore the social relationship among Myanmar migrant workers in Malaysia since November 2014. The formulated research questions is: what does the social relationship mean among Myanmar migrant workers in Malaysia? More specifically, what difficulties do they face and how do they seek from their social networks in case of difficulties in Malaysia; and what social organizations contribute to meet the needs and difficulties of Myanmar migrant workers in Malaysia?...".....Paper delivered at the International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015.
Creator/author: Khin Soe Kyi
Source/publisher: International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015
2015-07-26
Date of entry/update: 2015-08-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 254.38 KB
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Description: Abstract: "This paper presents the findings of a research study that investigated the level of education that the children of labor migrants from Burma now living in Chiang Mai, Thailand can access to as well as looking at the possibility and different channels for their further education should their parents decide to return to Burma. The focus of the study concentrates on four different ethnic groups, Karen, Karenni, Palaung and Shan by looking at children from the age between 4-13 years old to identify factors that are involved when these migrant children move back to Burma. At the same time, for many children who spent most of their lives in Thailand, it is interesting to see the possibilities and challenges for them in relating to accessing to education since Burma is a new home for many of them. Therefore, it is also interesting to see how the Burma government as well as the Thai education system will respond to this issue of educational development in the changing economic and democratic processes of these countries.".....Paper delivered at the International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015.
Creator/author: Sutthida Keereepaibool
Source/publisher: International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015
2015-07-26
Date of entry/update: 2015-08-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 56.1 KB
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Description: "Since Myanmar opened up under the semi-civilian government in 2011, the diaspora have been encouraged to return. As persecution on the basis of political activity or ethnicity is often the reason they left, many are reluctant to return permanently to what is an unclear political situation. As a result, brief stays are common. After so many years away from home, family and friends, it is difficult to image the experience of returning. Twenty-four years after leaving his home for a new life in Australia, Saya Nai Tin Aye, my Burmese teacher, applied for a tourist visa to return to Myanmar. The process took longer than it does for regular tourists, as the Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, and Immigration ministries must approve the application. It so happened that my trip to Myanmar would coincide with his. He invited me to visit his home village. Nai Tin Aye, once president of the Australia Mon Association, is a softly spoken man, with a keen interest and knowledge of history. He has an inspiringly fastidious memory for dates. He left his home in Kawkareik Township, Kayin State in 1991. Formally a star volleyball player and school principal, he was well known and liked in the area. He also spent eight years in the armed resistance, living in the jungle and resisting the Tatmadaw (Burma Army). In the 1990 elections, Nai Tin Aye worked for a local Mon politician. A warrant was issued for his arrest after authorities alleged irregularities in the campaign accounts. He fled to Thailand, registered with the UNHCR and was resettled in Australia in 1996. Between living in the jungle, Thailand and Australia, he has been away from his wife and three children for over 30 years. Arriving in Nai Tin Aye?s village I was at somewhat of a loss; the place was considerably larger than I had expected, and I did not know the address. I hadn?t been able to make a telephone connection from Yangon. The motorcycle taxi driver who had reluctantly driven me out here suggested retiringly that I spend the night in a nearby town instead. We approached a group of men in a teashop, and our concerns eased. They had no doubt it was the Sayar Gyi (?principal” or ?great teacher”) who we were looking for, and escorted us to his home..."
Creator/author: James T. Davies
Source/publisher: "New Mandala"
2015-06-26
Date of entry/update: 2015-07-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: ABSTRACT: "Fleeing state-sponsored violence and economic decline in their home country, hundreds of thousands of Myanmar émigrés have in recent years crossed the border into Thailand in search of a better life. For the estimated 2 million Myanmar migrants now living there, however, life in Thailand presents its own challenges. With insufficient legal provisions to handle the influx of migrants, the Thai government has largely turned a blind eye to abuse and exploitation suffered by migrant workers. Yet despite poor working conditions and exploitation, there does not appear to be much of a call to improve conditions through mobilization among the Myanmar migrant community. The marked absence of mobilization on any level thus begs the question: why is the migrant population in Thailand so passive in the face of severe strain and exploitation? This thesis explores the issue of non- mobilization among migrant groups, using as a framework two core concepts: social mobilization and precarity. The long-standing discourse on social mobilization focuses on social and political action in response to societal strain, taking into account other factors such as access to resources and institutional opportunities. Precarity, a newer concept and compliment to the established social mobilization debates, has been used to describe a lifestyle characterized by critical social, economic, and political insecurity..."
Creator/author: Eberle, Meghan Lea
Source/publisher: The University of Hong Kong
2010-02-15
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 785.11 KB
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Description: "Busarin Lertchavalitsakul charts Shan migrants? experiences of ID card procurement and their mixed fortunes travelling between Thailand and Burma." ...Substantial article; contains information about the process of obtaining Burmese identity documents.
Creator/author: Busarin Lertchavalitsaku
Source/publisher: "Asia Times Online"
2014-08-21
Date of entry/update: 2014-08-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Executive Summary: "In the course of cross-border migration from Myanmar, many who are involved in the migration process such as migrants, their families, money lenders, brokers, transnational money transferors, etc., intentionally or unintentionally maintain the status of illegality. However, with the objective to negotiate their own way into the new livelihood space to secure their share of development through migration, they see their exercises in maintaining illegality as licit behavior, which is considered legitimate, given the social context in which they live. The gap between what is considered illegal by the state and as illicit by the people gets wider. It is easy for those who are involved in the migration process to define the thin line between illegal and illicit behavior – from their own social perception – which can never be identified or recognized by the existing legal system in any country. Strong social connections and networks of some ethnic groups that have been in existence for a long time between Myanmar and its neighboring countries have fueled cross-border human mobility in both directions, regardless of legal border restrictions. Migration is often seen by the countries of destination as a threat to national security and by the country of origin as a problem to be solved. These negative perceptions got worse when crossborder migration became more dynamic, taking place in various informal/ illegal forms. Most studies attempted to highlight push and pull factors of this dynamic cross-border migration from Myanmar, as well as the living and working conditions of Myanmar migrants living abroad and their remittances. However, there are very few studies that shed light on the course of cross-border migration from Myanmar from the view of migrants, their families and their home community, and its implications on them. Millions of Myanmar migrants are working under undesirable and vulnerable conditions in foreign countries far away from their families. Most of them got into such situations voluntarily, in order to improve the livelihood of their families, and to provide education and health care for their children at home. Although most of them are illegal migrant workers, they are far from being criminals. They are making important sacrifices and live ?borrowed lives? in order to send money back home to help their families. They are just ordinary people trying to make ends meet, and for their extraordinary sacrifices, they are considered heroes by their families. Most people in the countries of destination normally hear a single story about illegal migrant workers. There are endless stories of illegal migrants portraying them as people who are sneaking across the border, stealing the jobs of local people, committing crimes, etc. Most people have been so immersed with negative media coverage that migrants have become one thing in their mind, the bad guys. It may not be fair if the bad behavior of few unscrupulous illegal migrants is considered representative of the millions of them working under very hard conditions, simply to provide bread and butter for their families back home and contributing to increased production and economic development in the country of destination. Although the acts of professional traffickers – who are committing serious crimes of human trafficking across borders that have a series of negative social impacts, not only on trafficked victims, but also on the families of those victims – are perceived as illicit, the acts of local brokers who facilitate voluntary cross-border migration of ordinary people (exploring job opportunities across the border) at a reasonable fee, and finding appropriate jobs for them (through their social connections in the country of destination), are not considered illicit by most local people. Far from being thought of as criminals, their services create win-win situations and are considered essential, and their actions – that may have flouted the state?s rules and regulations – cause no victims. This paper highlights the perception of each and everyone involved in the course of cross-border migration from Myanmar in each step they, internationally or unintentionally, maintain the status of illegality. It also attempts to identify the implications of cross-border migration on migrants? families and their community in the country of origin. Interviews and questionnaire surveys conducted in different projects in 2008 and 2009 in different places in Myanmar and neighboring countries, coupled with qualitative and quantitative analyses, attempt to enhance the reliability and representativeness of the findings in this paper."
Creator/author: Winston Set Aung
Source/publisher: Institute for Security and Development Policy (Sweden)
2009-12-00
Date of entry/update: 2011-06-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.22 MB
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Description: The 124-page report is based on 82 interviews with migrants from neighboring Burma, Cambodia, and Laos. It describes the widespread and severe human rights abuses faced by migrant workers in Thailand, including killings, torture in detention, extortion, and sexual abuse, and labor rights abuses such as trafficking, forced labor, and restrictions on organizing.
Creator/author: Phil Robertson
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
2010-02-23
Date of entry/update: 2010-02-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 2.26 MB
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Description: "A Karen village exists where children grow up in peace and security. They go to school and attend church with their families. They are not afraid of soldiers. Their parents vote and travel as they wish. The village has electricity, clean water and shops. It is not in the insurgent territory of Kawthoolei, beleaguered Papun or the cyclone-swept Irrawaddy delta, and it is not one of the fragile border hamlets of Thailand. Middle andaman (seen here in red) is India?s largest island, covering more than 1,500 square kilometers. This village is Webi, on an island called Middle Andaman, which belongs to India..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 17, No. 5
2009-08-00
Date of entry/update: 2009-12-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "International reporting of the large-scale migration of those leaving Burma in search of work abroad has highlighted the perils for migrant during travel and in host countries. However, there has been a lack of research in the root causes of this migration. Identifying the root causes of migration has important implications for the assistance and protection of these migrants. Drawing on over 150 interviews with villagers in rural Burma and those from Burma who have sought employment abroad, this report identifies the exploitative abuse underpinning poverty and livelihoods vulnerability in Burma which, in turn, are major factors motivating individuals to leave home and seek work abroad..." _Thailand-based interviewees explained to KHRG how exploitative abuses increased poverty, livelihoods vulnerability and food insecurity for themselves and their communities in Burma. These issues were in turn cited as central push factors compelling them to leave their homes and search for work abroad. In some cases, interviewees explained that the harmful effects of exploitative abuse were compounded by environmental and economic factors such as flood and drought and limited access to decent wage labour.[17] While the individuals interviewed by KHRG in Thailand would normally be classified as ?economic migrants?, the factors which they cited as motivating their choice to migrate make it clear that SPDC abuse made it difficult for them to survive in their home areas. Hence, these people decided to become migrants not simply because they were lured to Thailand by economic incentives, but because they found it impossible to survive at home in Burma. Clearly, the distinction between push and pull factors is blurred in the case of Burmese migrants. The concept of pull factors for migrants is further complicated because migrants are not merely seeking better jobs abroad, but are instead pulled to places like Thailand and Malaysia in order to access protection. For refugees and IDPs, protection is a service that is often provided by government bodies, UN agencies and international NGOs. For refugees in particular, protection is often primarily understood to mean legal protection against refoulement - defined as the expulsion of a person to a place where they would face persecution. Beyond legal protection against refoulement, aid agencies have implemented specific forms of rights-based assistance, such as gender-based violence programmes, as part of their protection mandates. However, for migrants from Burma the act of leaving home is overwhelmingly a self-initiated protection strategy through which individuals can ensure their and their families? basic survival in the face of persistent exploitative and other abuse in their home areas. This broader understanding of protection goes beyond legal protection against refoulement and the top-down delivery of rights-based assistance by aid agencies. It involves actions taken by individuals on their own accord to lessen or avoid abuse and its harmful effects at home.[18] KHRG has chosen to use the term self-initiated protection strategy, rather than a more generic concept like ?survival strategy?, in order to highlight the political agency of those who choose such migration. By seeing this protection in political terms, one can better understand both the abusive underpinnings of migration from Burma as well as the relevance of such migration to the protection mandates of governments, UN agencies and international NGOs currently providing support to conventional refugee populations. Understanding protection in this way presents opportunities for external support for the many self-initiated protection strategies (including efforts to secure employment without exploitation, support dependent family members, enrol children in school and avoid arrest, extortion and deportation) which migrant workers regularly use._
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group Regional & Thematic Reports (KHRG #2009-03)
2009-07-10
Date of entry/update: 2009-11-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Abstract: This paper examines the securitization process of unauthorised migration in Thailand, in particular how the cross-border flows of marginalised minorities, the so-called ?hill tribes? came to be seen as an ?existential threat? to Thai national identity by the state. The paper aims to present a case of societal security by highlighting the importance of national identity. It intends to explore the reasons for portraying cross-border mobility of border minorities as existential threats to the integrity of the Thai state. More specifically, it will investigate the motives of the securitising actor, the Thai state ? and examine why the issue evoked security concerns in the wake of the 1997 economic crisis and the way ?emergency measures? were introduced. This paper will illustrate the importance of ethnocized discourses on national identity by broadening the traditional security studies? framework on states and political-military competition at the borderlands.
Creator/author: Mika Toyota
Source/publisher: Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies Singapore (Working Paper 102)
2006-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2009-03-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "MAP Foundation, an innovative migrant workers? support group based in Chiang Mai, has launched a short animated documentary on DVD to promote safety and health in the workplace aimed at migrant workers. In a humorous but informative way, the 10-minute cartoon deals with the hazards that lurk in factories, construction projects and farms. The moral of the documentary is that migrant workers are particularly vulnerable to physical dangers and must take steps to protect themselves, for instance, by wearing protective clothing or by opposing reckless employers..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 17, No. 1
2009-02-00
Date of entry/update: 2009-02-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "With few opportunities at home, many young Burmese look overseas for work. But before migrants can earn a dollar abroad they have to face queues, fees, bribes and sometimes danger..."
Creator/author: Aung Thet Wine
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 16, No. 10
2008-10-00
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: 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. ?I felt I had no future there, so I left my home,? the soft-spoken painter said. The child of a Shan father and Karen mother, Maung Maung Tinn felt hopelessness at not being able to help his parents and grandparents. They were helping to pay for his studies at Moulmein University, while he did his best to lighten the load o?n them by working as a clerk in a government-owned electricity plant. Like many other Burmese, he made for Mae Sot, in Thailand, where he rapidly found employment at Dr Cynthia Maung?s Clinic, working at first as a chef, preparing meals for patients and medical staff, and then becoming a trained medic and health worker in the clinic?s outpatient department. His real talent surfaced, however, during his free time—hours he spent drawing and painting. He had shown promise at school, inspired by such famous Burmese artists as Wa Thone and Myo Myint..."
Creator/author: Aung Zaw
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol 15, No. 8
2007-08-00
Date of entry/update: 2008-05-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: In addition to greater international attention on their plight in exile, Thailand?s growing community of Burmese Muslims wants a voice in the political future of their country... "...The desire for equal protection—at home and in exile—seems to be the order of the day for Mae Sot?s Burmese Muslim community. Like the majority of refugees, they wait for the opportunity to return to a free Burma. Meanwhile, they do what they can to provide for their families, practice their religion without constraints and hope that greater attention is given to what the IHRC calls ?the oppressed of the oppressed.?"
Creator/author: Edward Blair, Aung Zaw
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 14, No. 1
2006-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2006-05-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Karen Internally Displaced Persons wonder when they will be able to go home... "Sitting in his new bamboo hut in Ler Per Her camp for Internally Displaced Persons, located on the bank of Thailand?s Moei River near the border with Burma, Phar The Tai—a skinny, tough-looking man of 60 who used to hide in the jungles and mountains of Burma?s eastern Karen State—waits for the time when he can return home. ?We are living in fear all the time,? he says about the lives of IDPs. His words reflect the general feeling among IDPs from Karen State, which has produced the largest number of displaced people in Burma..."
Creator/author: Yeni
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 13, No. 7
2005-07-00
Date of entry/update: 2006-04-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Burmese paintings find their home in a Chiang Mai gallery... "It?s a sad reflection on the Rangoon regime?s restrictive policies on artistic expression that one of Southeast Asia?s finest collections of contemporary Burmese art isn?t to be found in Burma, but in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. All the works in Lashio-born Mar Mar?s collection—more than 400 paintings, drawings and collages by 50 or so artists—were created in Burma, but many of them could never be displayed publicly there. They include paintings deemed ?political? and nudes that would offend the puritanical tastes of the Rangoon generals..."
Creator/author: Jim Andrews
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 13, No.6
2005-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2006-04-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Preserving Burmese traditions in Thailand... "In 1886 the British finally conquered Mandalay, the historic capital of the last independent Burmese kingdom. San Toe, a servant of the beleaguered King Thibaw and a devout Buddhist, fled the newly colonized city, bringing with him an image of the Buddha crafted by Mandalay artisans. He worked in the logging business as an employee of the Bombay Burma Trading Corporation before settling in the town of Mae Sariang in northern Thailand. There he built a Burmese monastery in 1909 to house his cherished Buddha image. Historically, the Burmese have viewed the city of Mandalay as a source of pride and an important link to Burma?s rich cultural and religious traditions. The name of the monastery in Mae Sariang, Wat Mandalay, reflects this connection and honors the lineage of the monastery?s central religious artifact—the Mandalay-made Buddha image..."
Creator/author: Yeni
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 13, No. 6
2005-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2006-04-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: 1. INTRODUCTION: People from Burma have been entering Thailand since the Ne Win coup in 1962. Most of these people have fled civil war, hunger, poverty, unemployment and political oppression. A significant proportion of these Burmese are employed in the lower rungs of the Thai labour market. Despite the large numbers of people from Burma working in Thailand, there has been very little reliable statistical analysis undertaken in order to understand the situation faced by these people. The paucity of reliable information in this area led us to conduct a survey of about 1,400 people from Burma working in Thailand.1 The survey was undertaken between October 2003 and March 2004, in the following 12 provinces: • Bangkok • Singburi • Lopburi • Saraburi • Tak (Mae Sot District) • Ratchaburi • Kanchanburi (Kanchanaburi and Sangklaburi Districts) • Ranong (Ranong District) • Samut Sakhon (Mahachai) • Phetchaburi • Chiang Mai (Chiang Mai and Fang Districts)2 • Mae Hong Son (Mae Hong Son District)...The following is a discussion of the results of a partial preliminary statistical analysis of a sample of about 1,100 of these workers with regard to their place of origin, time of arrival, income in the last 20 years, receipt of a minimum wage and their possession of a work permit.3 The analysis does not involve the estimation of population parameters and any consequent inferences about the nature of the population (though inferences about the population will be published later). Rather, the following is a statistical description of Burmese workers in Thailand, which we, argue is important given the paucity of reliable and credible work in this area.
Creator/author: Wylie Bradford & Alison Vicary
Source/publisher: "Burma Economic Watch" 1/2005 pp 3-25
2005-09-00
Date of entry/update: 2005-10-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 209.89 KB
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Description: An independent Thai film with a Burmese migrant in the lead has attracted a lot of attention.
Creator/author: Anthony Faraday
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 11, No. 1
2003-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Important, authoritative and timely report. I. THAI GOVERNMENT CLASSIFICATION FOR PEOPLE FROM BURMA: Temporarily Displaced; Students and Political Dissidents ; Migrants . II. BRIEF PROFILE OF THE MIGRANTS FROM BURMA . III REASONS FOR LEAVING BURMA : Forced Relocations and Land Confiscation ; Forced Labor and Portering; War and Political Oppression; Taxation and Loss of Livelihood; Economic Conditions . IV. FEAR OF RETURN. V. RECEPTION CENTERS. VI. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS.... "Recent estimates indicate that up to two million people from Burma currently reside in Thailand, reflecting one of the largest migration flows in Southeast Asia. Many factors contribute to this mass exodus, but the vast majority of people leaving Burma are clearly fleeing persecution, fear and human rights abuses. While the initial reasons for leaving may be expressed in economic terms, underlying causes surface that explain the realities of their lives in Burma and their vulnerabilities upon return. Accounts given in Thailand, whether it be in the border camps, towns, cities, factories or farms, describe instances of forced relocation and confiscation of land; forced labor and portering; taxation and loss of livelihood; war and political oppression in Burma. Many of those who have fled had lived as internally displaced persons in Burma before crossing the border into Thailand. For most, it is the inability to survive or find safety in their home country that causes them to leave. Once in Thailand, both the Royal Thai Government (RTG) and the international community have taken to classifying the people from Burma under specific categories that are at best misleading, and in the worst instances, dangerous. These categories distort the grave circumstances surrounding this migration by failing to take into account the realities that have brought people across the border. They also dictate people?s legal status within the country, the level of support and assistance that might be available to them and the degree of protection afforded them under international mechanisms. Consequently, most live in fear of deportation back into the hands of their persecutors or to the abusive environments from which they fled..." Additional keywords: IDPs, Internal displacement, displaced, refoulement.
Creator/author: Therese M. Caouette, Mary E. Pack
Source/publisher: Refugees International and Open Society Institute
2002-12-19
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf htm
Size: 748.26 KB 373.26 KB
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