Safe Work and Adequate Income for Refugee Women in Thailand--Basic Human Rights Subadhra Rai (Thailand)
Secure income and work is a fundamental human right. However, this basic rightremains unfulfilled in many parts of the world because of political and social upheavals.
While all suffer from the implications of lack of income and work, in most instances,
women and children bear the brunt of this unfulfilled human right. In this report, I
want to highlight the economic situation of ethnic women from Burma (1) who live along
the Thai-Burma border in refugee camps. I also want look at one local
non-governmental organization (NGO) WEAVE (Women Education for Advancementand Empowerment) work with various ethnic women organizations to address thissituation through capacity development, vocational training and income generation.
(1) The military junta changed the name of Burma to Myanmar in 1995. However, many
Burmese citizens in Thailand and elsewhere continue to use Burma in protest against
the military regime and its oppression and human rights abuses. I will use the nameBurma in solidarity with the people and the women of Burma.
Refugee Women in Thailand
Since 1984(2), some women of various ethnicities live in nine refugee camps. Theyand their families fled to Thailand because of the political instability and human rights
abuses carried out by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in Burma. They
are forced to work as porters to carry weapons for the SPDC. If they resist, they arebeaten, killed or raped. Refugees suffer from various physical and mental ailments
because of their trauma and camps life. Women suffer from domestic violence,
malnutrition, physical ailments and mental stress because of displacement anduncertain futures(3). These symptoms are exacerbated by the lack of secure income andmeaningful work.
(2) Refugees: They are in nine refugee camps in four provinces along the Thai-Burmaborder (Chiang Rai, Kanchanaburi/Ratchaburi, Mae Hong Son and Tak) andapproximately 140,000 registered refugees, some of them for more than 10 years, live inthese camps. Migrants: In three provinces (Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Tak). There areabout 1.2 million registered migrants of whom 905,881 are of Burmese descent.
However, there are many who remain unregistered because they fear repatriation.
Internally Displaced People (IDP) reside in four ethnic states (Karen, Karenni, Shan

and Mon) and two divisions (Eastern Pegu and Tenasserim). Because of the constantrisk of violence and instability, they lack food security and suffer severe malnutrition.
For more information please refer: Images Asia, 1997; Migrating with Hope: Burmese

Women Working in Thailand and the Sex Industry. Chiang Mai: Images Asia; Thailand
Burma Border Consortium, TBBC, 2004. Internal Displacement and Vulnerability inEastern Burma, Bangkok, TBBC; Thanaka Team, ed, 2000. Burma-More Women'sVoices. Bangkok, Altsean, Thanaka Team (ed.), 2003. Burma-Women's Voices Together,
Bangkok, Altsean; Women's Education for Advancement and Empowerment, Chiang
Mai, WEAVE, 2005.
(3) There is a possibility of repatriation in the next three to five years either to a third
country or to Burma if the political situation improves.
The Right to Work: WEAVE's Income Generation and Capacity Development
There are informal economic niches in some of the refugee camps. These include small
businesses, such as, provision shops, food stalls, tailoring, and handicraft shops
operated by the refugees. In addition, international NGOs carry out health andrehabilitation work in the camps, creating another form of artificial economy. Refugees
are employed as health care workers, sanitation workers, teachers and translators.
Because of the uncertainty, there is an underlying fear among the refugees that once theNGOs pull out of the camps, they will lose their income and work. Refugees, whousually work as seasonal workers in agriculture, are not allowed to work outside thecamps. They are usually underpaid for their work compared to local Thai. In thiscontext, WEAVE tries to address the lack of income and meaningful work for women.
WEAVE, a local women's organization of diverse ethnic background, is committed toworking in partnership with marginalized ethnic women from Burma. WEAVE,
established in 1990, focuses on the development of health educational materials for
women and children in various ethnic languages to support organizations working on
both sides of the Thai-Burma border. Over the years, WEAVE has evolved,
encompassing not only the development of health educational materials in various
ethnic languages but also capacity development, early child education and income
generation. Thus WEAVE's work is multispectral based on the belief that developing
the status of refugee women benefits the whole community.
WEAVE supports ethnic women through vocational training in sewing, weaving andembroidery work. WEAVE encourages women to create and weave designs as well as
sew clothes that reflect their indigenous culture. WEAVE also tries to identify andsource markets for some of the products in partnership with the various ethnic womenorganizations inside and outside of Thailand. Thus WEAVE's goal is to provide refugee
women with safe employment and income. The income enables women to supplement
their diet with vegetables, fruits and meat. The ability to earn an income empowers
women to deal with gender-based violence in the home. These women gain confidence totake on leadership roles in their ethnic organizations and communities.
WEAVE's capacity development is an important component of income generation
because it attempts to build women's abilities. Specifically, WEAVE does this throughproject management and providing women with opportunities to acquire knowledge andskills on microfinance, marketing and product line management. In addition, WEAVE
provides women's groups with small funds to support their income generation work.
Through its income generation and capacity development initiatives, WEAVE has tried
to address women's human rights and will continue to engage ethnic women and theirorganizations.