"The Thai government recently lifted a decades-long ban on working rights for long-term refugees from Myanmar who have been living in a string of nine camps just across the border in Thailand, some dating back to the 1980s. The move comes as the United States under President Donald Trump has cut off humanitarian aid programs around the world. The US had been the largest funder of food aid for the people living in the camps."
"Earlier this year, charities managing the foreign food aid in the camps were forced to cancel rations for most of the refugees. Hoping to make up for the US aid cuts, Bangkok-based The Border Consortium (TBC), the banner under which the charities in the camps operate, issued an "emergency funding appeal" to donors in March. "Without immediate funding, they [the refugees] face a precarious and life-threatening situation," it said at the time."
Thailand approved special permission for around 80,000 long-term refugees from Myanmar to stay and work, applying to residents of nine long-established border camps. The decision followed deep cuts in US-funded humanitarian and food aid that forced charities to suspend ration distributions and prompted an emergency funding appeal from The Border Consortium. The additional international aid did not materialize, creating severe shortages. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) welcomed the measure and said it could become a regional benchmark for rights-based refugee solutions while urging expansion to include all refugees affected.
Read at www.dw.com
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