Myanmar refugees in Thailand’s border camps will now be able to work safely and legally for the first time
At a construction site in eastern Thailand, two young men from Myanmar are embarking on a life that was previously off-limits to them.
Sakaliya is 21 and Ah Rapat has just turned 18. They first met as children in Mae La, one of the long-standing refugee camps near Thailand’s border with Myanmar. Years later, they are together again, not as campmates, but as co-workers.
Speaking to UNHCR, Sakaliya said: “I want to have a better life, and for my sisters too…I want them to have access to education and later on good jobs.”
The pair are amongst the first who have been granted work permits under Thailand’s new policy, which allows refugees living in nine of the nation’s border camps to legally work and earn income.
The camps along the Thai-Myanmar border have existed for decades. Generations have lived and grown up inside them, but refugees in Thailand have never had the right to work, until now.
Thailand’s recent policy change has opened a door that had been closed for decades. For years, refugees could not legally earn money, move freely or build independent lives outside the camps. Families relied heavily on humanitarian aid and taxpayer funds.
In 2025, pressure on refugee communities in the camps intensified. International funding cuts reduced support for food, healthcare and other basic needs. Resettlement routes also became more limited, leaving fewer long-term options for people who had already spent years waiting.
At the same time, Thailand was facing labour shortages linked to the Thailand–Cambodia border conflict. Together, these pressures strengthened the case for a more practical approach: allowing refugees already living in Thailand to work legally, travel more freely, provide for their loved ones, build a career and support themselves fully and with dignity.
Why work matters
For many people, work is ordinary. It pays for food, school materials, transport, medicine, phone credit and the everyday costs of family life. But for refugees who have spent years – or even their whole lives – shut out of employment, work can mean something more basic: personal agency.
Without legal work and with less and less humanitarian support, refugees can be forced into dangerous coping mechanisms, including unsafe, informal jobs, where they are often underpaid, exploited and unable to seek help.
The right to work changes that equation. It doesn’t solve everything – work can’t erase the trauma of displacement or the insecurity of temporary status. And it is important that this work is dignified and not exploitative, and that refugees are remunerated fairly for the work they do. But decent work can provide people with a lawful way and dignified means to support themselves and contribute to society.
It also challenges a wrongful narrative and damaging story about refugees: that they are passive, dependent or a burden.
The reality is much simpler. People want to work. They want to pay their own way where they can. They want to use their skills, learn new ones, find meaningful work and support the people who rely on them. When they are prevented from doing so, the problem is not lack of willingness. It is the system around them.
And preventing refugees from working doesn’t just harm individuals, it’s also damaging for host countries and economies. Many host countries have real labour needs. Plenty also have aging populations and declining workforces. In places where humanitarian support is already stretched, preventing people from working can also deepen long-term dependence on aid, even when people are ready and able to support themselves.
Allowing people to work legally offers a practical response to both realities: refugees need income and employers need workers.
It also gives governments and employers better visibility over work that may otherwise happen informally, making it easier to uphold labour protections, prevent abuse and ensure people can contribute through taxes as well as local spending.
When people can work in fair conditions, they are less isolated. They meet neighbours and colleagues. They learn language through daily interaction. They gain confidence navigating ordinary systems like banking, transport, healthcare and employment. For some, it may also open routes into training, entrepreneurship and more stable housing. Their children see adults building a future rather than waiting indefinitely for one.
Host communities benefit too. People who earn money spend money locally. They pay for goods and services, contribute to the local economy and support relatives. Businesses gain workers who want stable income and are legally visible. Hence, the importance of dignified and non-exploitative work. Communities are stronger when people are not forced into the shadows.
This is why access to work should not be seen only as a refugee issue. It is also an economic issue, a wellbeing issue, and a community and social issue. When refugees have fair and dignified work, everybody wins.
What Thailand’s example can teach the world
By June 2026, UNHCR reported that more than 5,500 refugees had joined the workforce since the right to work policy was issued in August 2025. Official non-Thai identity cards are now being issued in phases, helping Myanmar refugees to travel safely, open a bank account, access services and prove who they are.
Implementation will still determine how far the promise of this policy reaches.
People need clear information in languages they understand. Employers need fair processes grounded in decent work. Workers need protection from brokers, debt, underpayment and unsafe conditions, jobs in the formal market and support building their careers.
Families need attention too, because many workers will be leaving behind parents, spouses, children or siblings in the camps. Many refugees entering work for the first time need support and training. There are also people who remain excluded, including unregistered and urban refugees. In short, all labour rights need to be applied more inclusively.
At the same time, not all refugees will be able to work. This includes children, single-parent households with caregiving responsibilities, older persons, people with disabilities, and those with chronic illnesses or other health conditions. For these groups, humanitarian assistance and social protection will continue to be essential. While expanding access to livelihoods is a critical step towards self-reliance, targeted support must remain available to ensure that the most vulnerable are not left behind.
Still, this shift matters because it shows a different way of thinking about migration.
Too often, governments respond to people seeking safety by restricting their movement, cutting them off from work or placing them in detention or temporary shelter for a very long time while decisions are made about their future. These policies harm people. They separate families and communities, damage health and leave people unable to support themselves.
Community-based models take a different approach. They allow people to live with dignity while their case is being resolved, with access to basic support, clear information, education, healthcare and work. IDC’s evidence shows that when people can meet their needs and understand the immigration process, they are better able to stay engaged with that process.
Simply put: people are more likely to participate in a system when they are treated as people, not problems.
The success of Thailand’s right to work programme could chart a path forward for other nations in the region currently exploring refugee labour rights, such as Malaysia and Indonesia.
But it’s important to recognise that the change in Thailand did not happen overnight. It followed years of tireless work by government agencies, civil society, UNHCR, international organisations, parliamentarians, academia, donor and refugee communities who kept making the case that long-term unemployment was harming people and wasting potential.
IDC was an important part of that collective effort, working alongside others to support dialogue with government, share evidence and deliver practical solutions that work for policymakers, the public and refugees.
Looking ahead to a brighter future
For Sakaliya, Ah Rapat and other refugees, the new policy is not an abstract model. It is a new chapter, with new opportunities for independence. And for Thailand, it is evidence that progress is possible, even in long-running problems that once seemed intractable.
The right to work will not end displacement. It won’t remove the need for protection, safety or long-term solutions. But it will help to advance human rights and dignity for those living in the most challenging of circumstances.
When refugees are allowed to work, they are not only earning wages. They are rebuilding the ordinary parts of life that displacement takes away: routine, purpose, dignity, independence, belonging and the chance to contribute.
For thousands of refugees from Myanmar, the change is already being felt in practical ways. A first payslip. A remittance sent home. A younger sister kept in school. And after years of waiting, these are not small things. They are the very foundation of new hopes and possibilities.
