The Shan people fled Burma in the hope that they would be free of discrimination, persecution, ethnic cleansing and numerous other human rights abuses perpetrated by the Burmese Military Regime.  They hoped and dreamed that they would have a better, safer and more peaceful life in Thailand.  Sadly for many Shan people who now live in Thailand their dreams never came to being.  In Thailand, they are still suffering discrimination, persecution and other human rights abuses. They are not given refugee status; they are deprived of healthcare and education for the children by NGOs and the state, and to this day, are still treated as illegal immigrants, repeatedly arrested by the Thai police, repatriated or exploited and abused by employers.

Many of them work as migrant labourers on low wages, taking up menial jobs. Thailand has consistently refused to recognize any Shan people as refugees, instead labelling them as ‘economic migrants’.

The majority of the Shan people who fled Burma live in the fields and orchards in northern Thailand. Most have to survive on the meagre wages of seasonal work. Without any official status, Shan people in Thailand are subject to abuse by their employers and frequent arrests and detention. One of the many work-related health concerns for Shan refugees is their unprotected exposure to pesticides in the orange orchards where they live and work.

Many who have fled from Shan State work on construction sites in towns such at Chiang Mai or Bangkok, and because of their illegal status receive lower wages than Thai labourers. Workers and their families often live in corrugated iron or bamboo shacks at the construction site. Members of several families have frequently lived crowded together in one shack.

Thousands of Shans in Thailand hold various identity cards: Displaced Person's Card (Pink) for those who came before 1985 and Highlander's Card (Blue), Illegal Entry Card (Orange) and Highlanders Survey Card (Green) for those who came afterwards. While a good many of those arrested do not carry valid ID cards, those who have pink, blue, orange and other documents issued by the government are also liable to detention if they don't have work permits.

Hundreds of thousands however are living and working in Thailand without any identification. Also, they do not enjoy the benefit of entering a refugee camp like Karens and Karennis. Because Shans are scattered in different parts of Northern Thailand, the media cannot get to know about them in the groups of refugees.

Unlike other ethnic groups who fled Burma i.e. the Karen, Kachins and Chins who get help from Christian organisations to get their voices heard, the Shans have been ignored or forgotten by most international aid groups.  There are however, a few groups relying on individual donations (e.g. Firefly, SOS) that provide basic welfare and education assistance for Shan children and orphans.

Many Shans live in fear of being repatriated by the Thai authorities, as hundreds have been pushed back across the border from time to time. For most refugees arriving in Thailand, the main fear is that they will be arrested for illegal entry. The punishment for this is a 1-month prison sentence or a fine of about 2,000 baht. There have been repeated arrests of Shan men as well as women to this day.  They live in fear of being arrested every time they leave their home or workplace.  There have been repeated incidences of arrests, for instance, when groups of Shans had been arrested on their way to the temple to make offerings.

Farm workers tend to stay in huts out in the fields. Wages range from 30 to 100 baht a day, but the work is seasonal and sporadic. Many refugees who tried to survive on farms were later forced to move to cities in the hope that could survive better with construction work.

Refugees interviewed on farms stated that they hardly left their worksite in case they were arrested by police, who would often patrol the roads. They would slip out only to buy supplies from local markets.

Illness is a major problem for refugees at construction sites. Stomach disorders and skin infections owing to unsanitary living conditions are common, as well as malaria. If the main breadwinner falls ill, the rest of the family has to borrow from other members of the worksite community in order to have enough to eat. Many of the refugees do not dare go to local Thai hospitals, and simply try to treat themselves with over-the-counter medicine.

Because of their illegal status, all of the refugees are at risk of exploitation by unscrupulous agents and traffickers. Particularly in danger are children, girls and young women, who have been forced or manipulated into a life of prostitution and servitude. Being from simple backgrounds, and inexperienced about the world, they are easily taken advantage of.   Many Shan women have to work as servants or maids in Thai homes and also as lowly paid shop assistants.

The most vulnerable of the groups are young Shan children, especially children of Shan women who are held as prisoners in Thai jails.  They usually have no one to take care of them when their mothers are in jail, and because they have no money, they are sent back to Burma, or forced into the sex industry. Shan women prisoners are in desperate need of support and help because they are very sadly neglected and alone, unlike other prisoners who receive support from various organisations. 

This report was compiled in summer 2007.  The situation in Thailand remains unchanged, despite the fact that Shans have been seeking protection from the Burmese regime as refugees for well over 10 years.

It is extremely sad that the Shan peoples who only wish to live peacefully, safely and harmoniously in the Royal Kingdom of Thailand still have to suffer needlessly.

Feraya

Further information:

‘The only Shan group that has been officially accepted as "persons fleeing dangers from war" are the 400 men, women and children who have been forced to take refuge in Chiangmai's Wianghaeng District since fighting broke out between the Shan rebels and the Burma Army last May’. 

http://www.shanland.org/humanrights/2003/shans_are_refugees.htm

‘The refugee situation in Thailand must be seen within the broader migration context. UNHCR is denied access to a further 200,000 ethnic Shan in northern Thailand, many of whom should be considered refugees from Burma. Well over one million Burmese nationals are in Thailand as economic migrants; many could have valid refugee claims but have not been screened or recognized. The Thai government has not signed the 1951 Refugee Convention or its Protocol, does not use the term “refugee” or “refugee camp” and has no refugee-specific legislation.’

http://www.hri.ca/tribune/12-1-1.html

Kirsten Young is the UNHCR Assistant Regional Representative (Protection) at the Regional Office for Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.