Following the Thai government's decision not to deport 19 children from Myanmar who were taken from Wat Sawang Arom School in Lopburi and brought without their parents to the Thai-Myanmar border in Chiang Rai, Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the Thai government to allow all Myanmar refugees to remain in Thailand as long as the human rights situation in Myanmar remains dire. Thailand should also provide protection and support to all refugees, including by permitting UNHCR to undertake refugee status determination.

Thai immigration officials forcibly returned three Myanmar opposition activists to Myanmar, putting them at grave risk of persecution and other abuses, Human Rights Watch said today.

Parliamentarians from Southeast Asia strongly condemn the decision by the Thai authorities to hand-over three members of Myanmar opposition forces into the hands of junta allies.

The Thai authorities must not deport around 100 people from Myanmar, including children, interrogated after immigration and military officers raided apartment buildings in Mae Sot last week, allegedly to search for members of the anti-coup Civil Disobedience Movement and the People's Defence Force (PDF), said Amnesty International.

<p>Following the February 2021 coup in Myanmar and subsequent violence against protesters, a large number of people from Myanmar came to Thailand seeking safety and are now living as refugees in urban areas. Some came with valid visas, while some are undocumented, but all are unrecognised as refugees and unprotected under Thai law.</p>

<p>The Government of Thailand should end refugee pushbacks and protect refugee rights, said Fortify Rights in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBNMaGDULdY">new short-film</a>&nbsp;released last Thursday (2 February)&nbsp;on the forced return of refugee children to Myanmar.</p>

<p>Over 200 Rohingya refugees from a Bangladesh IDP camp have been left floating in a single boat off the coast of Thailand. Unable to get the boat moving and lacking food and water, 30 people have reportedly died.</p>

<p>With the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, to be held in Thailand on 18-19 November, political refugees from Cambodia are extremely worried that tightened security measures may affect their already fragile safety.</p>

<p>In a petition submitted to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, representatives from several civil society organisations have demanded that the Thai government stop returning Uyghur refugees to China and arrange for their relocation to safe-haven countries.</p>

<p>On 3 May 2022, a <a href="http://youtu.be/f3-Cls2O8Zo">video footage</a>&nbsp;filmed from the Myanmar side of the border and obtained by Fortify Rights shows uniformed Thai soldiers destroying a footbridge over the Wa Le (also known as the Waw Lay) River, a tributary of the Moei River, which forms part of the border between Thailand and Myanmar.</p>

<p>Move Forward Party (MFP) MP Rangsiman Rome revealed during last week&rsquo;s mid-year censure debate that Maj Gen Paween Pongsirin, a senior police officer investigating Rohingya human trafficking in 2015, decided to seek asylum in Australia due to threats and pressure from his superiors.</p>

<p>UNHCR advocates for efforts to assist newly arrived Myanmar refugees in Thailand and emphasizes humanitarian and protection needs.</p>