T
he use of violence by the Myanmar government after the 2021 coup in suppressing the people has resulted in a great number of Burmese people running for their lives to Thailand. Some came in legally with valid visas, some are undocumented. Although this group of people does not have a clear status as refugees like those living in temporary camps, living among ordinary people in the city makes them no different from urban refugees.
In its 2021-2022 report, the Coalition for the Rights of Refugees and Stateless Persons said that there are around 5,155 urban refugees in Thailand. This number includes refugees of other nationalities, while urban refugees from Myanmar may even be higher than the estimate, since after the 2021 coup, many Burmese people who cannot be detected fled to Thailand. Some areas have Burmese who themselves have arranged safehouses or refuges.
Life in a safehouse is not safe
An elderly man wearing a Burmese sarong sits in front of a row of buildings. Behind this Ah Ko (a Burmese term meaning an older man) is a large, eye-catching piece of cloth with slogans bearing the names of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and People’s Defence Force (PDF), conveying to people who are aware of the Myanmar coup that took place in February 2021 that these buildings may have some connection to the anti-coup protests in Myanmar.
The 64-year-old Ah Ko looks after the 3-storey row of buildings. A total of 27 people live inside, using it as a safehouse for Burmese who are opposed to the coup. Living in this safehouse are young and old people alike.
Since the number of people living here exceeds the number of bedrooms, each bedroom has 5-6 people sleeping together. This safehouse is considered to be a waiting area (a temporary place to live) for Burmese who have just arrived in Thailand while they are trying to find a new place to live. It is also for those waiting to migrate to a third country.
The Ah Ko said that this safehouse has helped Burmese from many areas. “The ordinary people who no longer have anywhere to live, who can no longer live in Myanmar, and leading members that fought against Senior General Min Aung Hlaing’s coup. Some are PDF, some are politicians. Most aren’t always here. People are always coming and going. All expenses are supported by a Burmese network in America. They raise money and send it to us.”
In truth, the Ah Ko could easily move to a third country, since his family migrated from Myanmar and settled down in the U.S. during the “Saffron Revolution” in 2007. Then in 2016, he chose to return to Myanmar after Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD party won the election in 2015 and took more than half of the parliament and senate seats, inspiring hope among those that had gone far away from home. He chose to return and open a tourist business in Myanmar by himself, while the rest of his family members remained in America. Then another coup occurred in 2021.
“I’ve already been to a third country, why would I need to go again? When I lived there, I’d already survived. I can eat, I can live, but our brothers and sisters, our people, are still living in difficulty like this. Will I close my eyes and leave? So I decided to not go to a third country. I will stay and help as much as one human can … I decided to continue to stay here (Thailand) and help raise money to help our brothers and sisters,” the Ah Ko said.
He views the 2021 coup as different from the 1988 protests (also known as the 8888 Uprising on 8/8/1988) against General Ne Win when there was still no internet access and people did not know of the protests. It was a different situation in 2021 when the internet was readily accessible and people could easily contact each other. Soon the CDM and PDF were formed.
“If in 1988 the military shot 10 people, another 100 people would go quiet. No one would’ve been brave enough to fight. But in 2021, the military shot down 100 people, and there would be 100 people, 1,000 people, 10,000 more (pushing back). In 2021, all the kids have their eyes and ears open wide. They are able to find out everything that is happening and show it to the whole world,” the Ah Ko said.
For the Ah Ko, entering Thailand without proper documents and recognition from Thai authorities is difficult. “If I can, I would like to ask the Thai government to accept us and set up a center for war refugees. The people who come here aren’t evil people. The coup soldiers abused their powers to shoot the people, kill the people, destroy the people’s things.
He continues: “People that have nowhere to live have to escape here. Coming here is a secret business. If we are caught, we have to pay. If sent back to Myanmar, the risk is the same as sending them to die. If possible, I would like the Thai government to solve this problem directly. Accept us openly. Open a centre for war refugees. If the situation in their country improves, have them go back.” the Ah Ko said.
From journalist to refugee
Thu (not his real name) is one of the Burmese people living in Ah Ko’s safehouse. In Myanmar, he worked as a journalist. Originally, he was a cameraman and video editor, but since he worked in a small news agency that had to contend with limited resources, he decided to shift to field reporting during the anti-coup protests in Myanmar. Thu said that he opposed the idea of coup.
“I don’t agree. In the past, in our country, everyone was able to communicate everything according to our rights. After the coup the military claimed that there was fraud in the elections but had no evidence to show to the people. Two people that disagreed with the coup were shot. I thought, no country uses weapons or guns to threaten the people,” Thu said.
When he was still in Myanmar, Thu was part of a team of journalists who reported on the protests. “The soldiers ordered us to stop, we were not allowed to shoot videos there. Some people didn’t listen and kept taking photos and videos, and they were arrested.”
Reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic led to the shutdown of Thu’s news agency. The hospitals did not have enough oxygen tanks, but the military had given oxygen tanks to people who supported the military first while those opposing the coup did not get any. After the news was published “the soldiers hunted us down, we couldn’t stay and had to escape here (in Thailand).”
“The risk for journalists in Myanmar right now is very high because most journalists are in prison. The military controls all the news,” Thu said.
Before entering Thailand, Thu had to stay with friends or acquaintances and change houses every three to four days before he contacted the Ah Ko and sold his personal camera so he could cross the border with his girlfriend. After entering the safehouse, Thu had to stay silent and live quietly so as to not get arrested, since he had entered the country without papers. He has already successfully submitted a request to go to a third country, which is currently the only hope for him and his girlfriend as they can no longer return to their home country given its current situation.
While waiting to move to another country, living in Thailand requires money. But since he has no documents, it is difficult for him to move around. When he walks out of the safehouse to buy groceries, for example, and he sees a policeman on a motorcycle passing by, he would already be scared of getting arrested.
Thu has been in Thailand for four months, and his outward appearance has clearly changed. He is a lot skinnier compared to the photo he took when he was in Myanmar. When we asked him if he could make one wish, Thu answered, “If I could, I only wish for democracy to be returned to us.”
A safer haven for its neighbors
Throughout the two years since the Myanmar coup, the Thai government, as a neighboring nation, has not had any screening system in place for Burmese refugees.
Sirada Khemanitthathai, who teaches at the Faculty of Political Science and Public Administration in Chiang Mai University, and an expert on Myanmar, views the 2-year-old Myanmar coup in terms of its relations to Thailand. Currently, the Burmese people living in Thailand are not just laborers. After the coup, Burmese people from diverse backgrounds entered the country, since Thailand is safer for them compared to Myanmar. The Thai government should therefore respond to the current situation and protect the lives of the Myanmar people, he said.
Sirada suggested that a good approach to taking care of Burmese urban refugees is for the Thai state to issue a policy which supports the grant of refugee status to the Burmese people who fled due to the political situation (forced migration) there. For example, this group of people could be allowed to register legally and receive protection under Thai law, thus preventing potential corruption among state officials who might exploit the urban refugees.
“What we want is to have policies which open channels for people displaced because of persecution to register for protection under Thai law, so that they can avoid receiving protection through unofficial channels by local-level Thai authorities,” Sirada said.
Political factors in Myanmar force a large number of their people to escape to Thailand as political refugees. Since the people need to leave, they may choose to bribe Thai state officials or the police in order to survive and provide themselves with some sort of protection in their lives.
Sirada said that some educated people, despite having skills, would disguise themselves as laborers in order to survive in Thailand, since they cannot return to their country of origin. If the Thai state sees the potential here rather than worry about security issues, it would help Burmese refugees in Thailand to live more normally and not have their rights violated again and again. ●
This article was originally published by Prachatai English on March 11, 2023. Reprinted with permission.
