Name: Thai labor shortage opens jobs for Burmese refugees for first time
Uploaded: 2025-11-19T14:51:46.692Z
Duration: 2 min 58 s
Description: After U.S. aid cuts left thousands of Burmese refugees struggling along the Thai-Myanmar border, a labor shortage in Thailand has opened a new path: employment rights for refugees. For families like Tun Min Lat’s, this marks a hopeful turn after decades in camps.

After U.S. aid cuts left thousands of Burmese refugees struggling along the Thai-Myanmar border, a labor shortage in Thailand has opened a new path: employment rights for refugees. For families like Tun Min Lat’s, this marks a hopeful turn after decades in camps.

Thailand has granted employment rights to thousands of Burmese refugees for the first time, following a labor shortage caused by the departure of Cambodian workers amid border clashes. Many of these refugees, who have lived in camps for years after fleeing conflict in Myanmar, lost their main source of financial support when U.S. aid was cut earlier in the year.

The new policy allows refugees like Tho Minh Lat and his family to work legally, offering them a path to self-reliance and improved living conditions. International organizations, including the United Nations, have praised the move as a significant step toward social and economic inclusion for displaced people in Thailand.

Thai labor shortage opens jobs for Burmese refugees for first time

Tho Minh Lat is glad to be at work. He is one of thousands of Burmese refugees given employment rights in Thailand for the first time. Earlier this year, many of those in camps along the border had lost their financial lifeline when the U.S. cut its international aid spending. Tho says his family fled their village in southern Myanmar almost 20 years ago to escape forced labor and conscription. But he says life at the refugee camp was also difficult. Our family life at the camp was an extreme struggle. We were unable to earn any income. And when U.S. aid cut support to the refugee camp, we were left barely surviving. The United Nations Refugee Agency says Thailand currently hosts more than 80,000 Burmese refugees. Many of those are ethnic minorities who have fled armed conflict in their homeland since the 1980s. But recent months have seen many Cambodian workers flee Thailand due to armed clashes along the border. That has left the Thai economy with a labor shortage. But it's also created an opportunity for Burmese refugees like Tho who have been given employment rights by Thailand for the first time. He and his wife now work at a farm 300 miles from their camp. This job opportunity is a lifeline, and we are incredibly grateful. For the first time, I feel our family's future is secure. I feel like we've just escaped from a hopeless life after 19 years in the camp, moving toward a better life with a path forward. At the farm, Burmese women, including Tho's wife Lele, sort and prepare baskets as they learn each step of the harvest and packaging process. On their first day, Tho's group of five earned about $30, modest pay, but a hopeful start after years of waiting. The couple's eldest daughter also found a job in a different province, while their two younger children remain in the refugee camp and are being looked after by neighbours. During a video call with my children, I could see hope blossom on their faces. Knowing their parents now have jobs and income, they looked genuinely happy and assured that their future will be better. As a father, I can feel how deep their happiness is. The Border Consortium provides food, shelter and other support to displaced people in Thailand. Here's their executive director, Leon de Riedmaten. What else could be done? It's at least one part of the solution, letting those people working outside. And in addition to this, for them, it's the first time that they have an opportunity to start to be self-reliant, maybe more independent in the future and having a more decent life in Thailand. The United Nations in Thailand commended Bangkok's decision to give refugees employment rights. It described the move as a landmark step that promotes social cohesion, economic inclusion and better access to essential services.

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