Brief context of the situation in Myanmar.

The current civil war in Myanmar began on the 1/2/21 when the Burmese military (Tatmadaw) staged a Coup d’etat and overthrew the democratically elected government of the NLD. Aung San Suu Kyi, the then president, was also detained and has been sentenced to over 25 years in prison for a range of alleged offenses.

After 5 years of turbulent democracy, the Tatmadaw and their krony-Esque government of the USDP had retaken control of the country. Hundreds of thousands of civilians took to the streets to protest the coup and to reestablish democracy. These marches were referred to as the Spring Revolution. A large percentage of the people gathered were doctors, teachers, nurses and students. Many of these people had only known adult life in a democracy and to live by anything else was an affront to their way of life. After several hours, the Tatmadaw(who had all but replaced conventional police) began firing live ammunition at the crowds. Humanitarian organizations such as the AAPP have said the number of deaths is said to be as high as 4536 protesters, with over 20,000 people detained.

Following these protests, the Tatmadaw carried out blanket raids on suspected protesters, storming universities, workplaces and homes alike. Initial displacement caused by these acts is predicted to be 100-130,000. Many of the displaced people sought refuge in neighbouring Thailand. Since the advent of the Spring Revolution, the Tatmadaw have introduced increasingly tyrannical laws and acts to further limit the freedoms and rights of large groups of the Burmese population. This has exacerbated the refugee crisis dramatically as many young people seek to escape the impositions set on their lives.

With sanctioned border crossings too heavily monitored by Junta forces for most people to escape this way, many people resort to illegal border crossings, walking for days through the treacherous jungle with little information to guide them. Once reaching the geographical border, there is no signage to direct them. The refugees that make the dangerous trek are usually met on Thai soil by someone in the smuggling network that has been active for decades in these regions. They will then be escorted to Bangkok or Phuket and start their new lives in Thailand as illegal immigrants. Some are able to file for asylum status, others work service jobs and depend heavily on the tourist industry to survive.

While in Bangkok I was able to meet several of the people that had made that journey and was able to learn more about their stories. The area of Koh San is notorious among tourists visiting the capital. What many don’t realise when visiting is that the vast majority of the service staff found in the area are escaping a vicious conflict. I spoke with some children as young as 12 that had fled the violence on their own to attempt to provide for their families back in Myanmar.

For many, however, the journey is too unsafe to make. This has resulted in increasingly growing refugee camps emerging along the borders of Karenni (Kayah) & Kayin states with Thailand. These border areas are considered to be safer than further inland. This is because the indiscriminate aerial bombardments favored by the Junta forces risk causing collateral damage if carried out near Thai territory. This is generally true if border areas as the conflict spilling into foreign territory is an escalation the Tatmadaw do not want. Videos have surfaced as of 9/03/24 showing cross border damage in Shan state, which borders China. This is an interesting case of border escalation as China is thought to be the Junta’s largest military supplier followed closely by North Korea.

Whether this will affect relations between the Tatmadaw and the Chinese government is yet to be determined.