Thailand is host to more than 143.000 Burmese refugees living in camps near the Thai-Burma border; thousands of people also live outside the camps without being recognized as refugees. Burmese refugees started seeking refuge in Thailand in large numbers in the late 1980’s. Pro-democracy demonstrations held in 1988 followed by the failed 1990 elections increased the exodus of Karen, Karenni, Mon and Shan ethnic populations, students and pro-democracy activists to Thailand. Many of the refugees have now lived in the camps for 15 to 20 years; many more of them live as internally displaced people in the Burma jungle. As human rights abuse continues, new arrivals keep coming to Thailand regularly.
Urban refugees form another group of concern in Thailand. While numerous Burmese find their way to Bangkok, so do others from all over the world. The country has relatively easy-to-meet visa requirements, which enables asylum seekers to enter the country and subsequently search for legal assistance. Urban refugees are often quite invisible for aid workers or are expected to be able to be self-reliant, and therefore do not always get the attention they deserve as human beings.
Besides refugees, Thailand also has a large (often illegal) migrant workers population. The grand majority of these people are also Burmese; a large percentage is from neighbouring Laos and Cambodia. The general lack of labour rights for migrant workers results in hard living and working conditions at all levels.
The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) is an international Catholic organisation with a mission is to accompany, serve and defend the rights of refugees and forcibly displaced people. JRS undertakes services at national and regional levels with the support of an international office in Rome. Founded in November 1980 as a work of the Society of Jesus, JRS was officially registered on 19 March 2000 at the Vatican State as a foundation.
JRS programmes are found in over 50 countries, providing assistance to refugees in refugee camps, to people displaced within their own country, to asylum seekers in cities and those held in detention. The main areas of work are in the field of Education, Advocacy, Emergency Assistance, Health and Nutrition, Income Generating Activities and Social Services. At the end of 2004, more than 450,000 individuals are direct beneficiaries of JRS projects.
