Thailand and Burma (Myanmar): future of Burmese refugees in Thailand

Authors

  • Екатерина Владимировна Пугачева St. Petersburg State University, 7-9, Universitetskaya nab., St. Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation

Abstract

The article discovers reasons for the continuous exodus of Burmese refugees into neighboring Thailand and related security concerns on the border. The situation in the border region is analyzed in the context of the national security strategy of Thailand. The article offers a critical analysis of current political reform in Burma and reasons for its inconsistency. Moreover, the article discovers a link between the state policy and human rights violations that Burmese government is accused of, including forced displacement, land confiscation, forced labor, child labor, rape as a weapon of war and racial/ethnic/religious discrimination. The shortcomings of the Thai approach in dealing with refugee influx on the border with Burma are described in this article. Special attention is devoted to the future of young Burmese refugees in Thailand and to their education opportunities in the kingdom. The article ends with conclusions on how refugee community can be used as an instrument of political influence and potential destabilization of the region. The author’s first-hand work with the refugee community and field-research on the Thai border contributes to the deeper analysis of recent democratic reforms in Burma and define topicality and scientific innovation of the article. Refs 14.

Keywords:

Burma/Myanmar, Thailand, refugee, ethnic groups, political changes, education for all

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References

Литература

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Published

2013-12-20

How to Cite

Пугачева, Е. В. (2013). Thailand and Burma (Myanmar): future of Burmese refugees in Thailand. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Asian and African Studies, (4), 108–115. Retrieved from https://aasjournal.spbu.ru/article/view/2269

Issue

No. 4 (2013)

Section

Foreign policy and international relations of Asia and Africa

License

Articles of "Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Asian and African Studies" are open access distributed under the terms of the License Agreement with Saint Petersburg State University, which permits to the authors unrestricted distribution and self-archiving free of charge.