BANGKOK: More than 5,500 Myanmar refugees living in camps along Thailand’s border have found jobs since Bangkok eased employment curbs last year, an approach that offers a regional example, a senior UN refugee official told Reuters.
The step came in response to a sharp decline in global humanitarian funding, in part as US President Donald Trump slashed foreign aid and Thailand battled growing labor shortages worsened by armed clashes with Cambodia.
As a result, Thailand allow about 80,000 refugees from Myanmar to work legally, in a policy change significant for a population that has lived for decades dependent on humanitarian aid in nine shelters along the shared border.
Raouf Mazou, UNHCR assistant high commissioner for operations, said Thailand’s efforts could become a model for other countries in Southeast Asia grappling with the problem of protracted displacement.
The approach could offer lessons for countries such as Bangladesh and Malaysia that host large refugee populations, showing how they can contribute to the economy while remaining under legal protections and government oversight.
