policy \u200bchange<\/a> significant for a population that has lived for decades dependent \u2060on humanitarian aid in nine shelters along the shared border.<\/p>\n\n\n\nRaouf Mazou, UNHCR assistant \u200bhigh commissioner for operations, said Thailand’s efforts could become a model for other countries \u200bin Southeast Asia grappling with the problem of protracted displacement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The approach could offer lessons for countries such as Bangladesh and Malaysia that host large refugee populations, showing how they can contribute to \u200bthe economy while remaining under legal protections and government oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“If it works here, \u200bit will have an impact on the region,” Mazou said in an interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since the programme’s launch \u200cin \u2060October, Thai authorities have worked with employers to ensure refugee workers receive legal protections, healthcare coverage and at least the minimum wage, Mazou said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As part of the initiative, refugees are receiving special identity cards to open bank accounts, obtain mobile SIM cards \u200band verify their legal \u200bstatus, steps Mazou \u2060said were critical to integrating them into Thailand’s formal economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.N. officials estimate from current trends that between 10,000 and 20,000 refugees \u200bstand to get jobs over the next year, although the \u200bpace of \u2060expansion hinges on administrative processes and practical access to jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Refugees still face challenges such as restrictions on freedom of movement and finding ways to adapt to life after decades \u2060spent \u200bdependent on aid in camps, Mazou said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(Reuters) BANGKOK, June 9 – More than 5,500 Myanmar refugees living in camps along Thailand’s border have found jobs since Bangkok\u00a0eased\u00a0employment curbs last year, an approach \u200bthat offers a regional example, a senior U.N. refugee official told Reuters. The \u200cstep came in response to a sharp decline in global humanitarian funding, in part as U.S. President Donald Trump slashed foreign aid and Thailand battled growing labour shortages worsened by armed clashes with Cambodia. As a \u200bresult, Thailand allow about 80,000 refugees from Myanmar to work legally, in a policy \u200bchange significant for a population that has lived for decades dependent \u2060on humanitarian aid in nine shelters along the shared… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58437,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-in-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=58434"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58436,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58434\/revisions\/58436"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/58437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=58434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=58434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=58434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}