Humanitarian
& Displacement

The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) and Fortify Rights published a report on 27 March documenting the human rights violations suffered by Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees who were trafficked in to Malysia and Thailand. The report, Sold Like Fish, is based on interviews with 270 victims and government officials. The authors of the report noted that this study should complement an internal review initiated by the Malaysian government earlier this year into the 2015 discovery of a mass grave of trafficked Rohingya in Perlis State. RFA

Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report on 21 March detailing the growing number of young Kachin women who are trafficked as "brides" to China. The report, Give Us a Baby and We’ll Let You Go: Trafficking of Kachin ‘Brides’ from Myanmar to China, is based on interviews with 37 trafficking victims who were sold for US$3,000 to US$13,000. The women were often repeatedly raped until they became pregnant, with some allowed to return home if they left the child behind. HRW recommended that the governments of Burma and China work together to close trafficking channels, address economic challenges of at-risk women, and invest in support services for trafficking victims. Coconuts Yangon

On 13 March, a 50-year-old man died from a lung condition in an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Chipwe Township, Kachin State after being unable to receive treatment at the local hospital. His death underscores the lack of medical care available in Chipwe Township. The hospital only has one doctor, who is unable to visit patients in the township's two IDP camps, and the facilities lack sufficient medicine and equipment. BNI

On 14 March, the UNHCR declared that it will maintain Chin refugee status in light of the worsening violence in southern Chin State. The agency announced the removal of protections for the over 18,000 registered Chin refugees in June last year. Mizzima

More than 130,000 migrant workers returned to Burma from Thailand since the middle of 2018 according to the Myanmar Labour Attache Office in Bangkok, including 3,090 in February 2019 alone. A migrant rights advocate reported that many of the workers are fleeing Thailand to avoid a crackdown on undocumented migrants. The Thai police arrested over 400 people with fake papers, including 240 from Burma, as part of the nationwide "X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner" operation last month. Myanmar Times

On 4 March, a fire destroyed over 30 houses at the Nu Po refugee camp in Tak Province, Thailand. According to the Border Consortium, the camp houses around 9,000 refugees from Burma, more than 80% of whom are ethnic Karen. Bangkok Post

Thailand's Department of Employment has ordered Chow Steel Industrial Plc to compensate 292 Burmese migrant workers that were laid off when the factory closed for renovation recently. The company will have to pay ฿12 million (US$380,890) to the workers based on their years of service. Thai and Burma labor officials are attempting to find new employment for the unemployed workers before the Songkran holidays start on 13 April. Myanmar Times