Thailand offers work opportunities to 80,000 Myanmar refugees

Thailand will give legal employment rights to thousands of Myanmar refugees now living in camps along the border between the two countries, the government said on Wednesday, a move that won the praise of the United Nations’ refugee agency.

The policy change will grant the right to legal work in Thailand to around 80,000 refugees, many of whom have been living in the camps for more than 40 years, the government said.

Among the eligible Myanmar refugees living in nine temporary shelters along the Thai-Myanmar border since 1984, 42,601 are of working age, it said.

The decision could also help solve a potential migrant labor shortage in Thailand following an armed border conflict with Cambodia, which led to an exodus of Cambodian workers.

Around 520,000 Cambodians — about 12 percent of the total workforce — were employed in Thailand before the fighting erupted in July, according to official Labor Ministry data.

As of July 25, Thailand also employed nearly 3 million Myanmar workers, the ministry said Friday. It has previously said that migrant labor is critical in sectors like construction, agriculture and services.

Government spokesperson Jirayu Hongsub said on Wednesday that the Thai cabinet backed a Labor Ministry proposal to allow long-staying refugees from Myanmar living in Thailand to work, a move that officials say will bolster the economy.

The UN Refugee Agency described the policy as a “strategic investment” that would unlock the potential of refugees, enabling them to support their families and also spur local demand and job opportunities.

The agency added in a statement on Wednesday that the expansion in employment could lift GDP and strengthen economic resilience. It would also reduce reliance on humanitarian aid among the refugees, nearly half of whom were born in the camps.

“With this policy shift, Thailand transforms hosting refugees into an engine of growth – for refugees, for host communities and for the nation as a whole,” said Tammi Sharpe, the UN agency’s representative in Thailand, in the statement.

The policy could also set an example to other countries in the face of aid cuts for millions of displaced people around the world, the agency said.