Overview

• The Thai cabinet approved a Labor Ministry resolution granting legal employment to roughly 80,000–81,000 refugees living in nine shelters along the Thai–Myanmar border.
• Government figures indicate 42,601 eligible refugees are of working age, and UNHCR estimates about 47% of the camp population were born there after decades of displacement.
• UNHCR welcomed the decision as a turning point and said expanded employment could lift GDP, bolster economic resilience, and reduce reliance on humanitarian aid.
• Thai officials framed the move as a response to labor pressures following July border fighting with Cambodia that prompted an exodus of Cambodian workers, previously numbering about 520,000 in Thailand.
• Labor ministry data show Thailand employed nearly 3 million Myanmar workers as of July 25, and key implementation details for the refugee work scheme have not yet been released.