Refugees allowed to work to counter aid cuts

Thailand has set a regional precedent this month by giving refugees permission to work in the country in an effort to tackle aid cuts and labour shortages.

- By Rebecca Root BANGKOK

More than 87,000 refugees living in nine refugee camps along the border with Myanmar have been totally reliant on handouts of food and foreign aid. Many have not left the camps of makeshift shelters in the four decades since, as ethnic minorities in Myanmar, they were driven out by a violent military regime.

Now, shrinking foreign aid budgets, especially from the US, and a border dispute with Cambodia have pushed Thailand to reconsider its approach. Tammi Sharpe, representative in Thailand of the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, called the decision “a turning point”.

“I can’t underscore enough how excited we are about this,” she said. “Refugees will now be able to support themselves and their families, stimulate local economies through increased consumption, and promote job creation, contributing to national GDP growth and economic resilience.”

The policy was welcomed by the camps’ residents. “In the beginning, refugee people cannot go outside the camp. Now, they [allow] refugees to work outside. This is very good,” said Bway Say, a refugee and general secretary of the Karen Refugee Committee, representing those from the Burmese ethnic minority living in the camps. “Right now, however, all of the information isn’t clear.”