In Thai refugee camps on the border with Myanmar newly arrived refugees have been returning to Myanmar because they fear being questioned by the Thai authorities.

According to camp officials new arrivals to the camps have been questioned by the Thai authorities since the February 2021 coup.

New arrivals fear being questioned by the authorities, so many of them choose to avoid the questioning by leaving the camps and either returning to Myanmar or relocating to other areas of Thailand, according to  an official from Mae La Refugee Camp, north of Mae Sot, in Thailand’s Tak Province.

In the first week of August 2024, the Thai authorities questioned newly arrived households in Mae La and Noh Poe refugee camps. The new arrivals were not permitted to stay in the camps and were instead sent back, according to reports.

Saw Kyaw Waw, the supervisor of Noh Poe Refugee Camp said: “When the authorities come to inspect, some people become frightened and leave. Others, who have no place to return to and cannot go back remain in the camp. The authorities tell them that they cannot stay and must return. Unfortunately, we are not authorised to make any exceptions or intervene in these situations.”

He said there is a need for an organisation to advocate for new arrivals at refugee camps who cannot return home because they face too many difficulties and are, as a result, suffering real hardships.

The new arrivals who the Thai authorities have been ordering to return are not listed on the official refugee register.

People started fleeing to Thailand from Karen State when fighting started in south east Myanmar in 1975. In 1984 the Thai government allowed refugee camps to be established on its border with Myanmar. Currently, there are nine refugee camps remaining on the border.

Of those camps, seven house mainly Karen refugees and are overseen by the Karen Refugee Committee (KRC). They are Mae La, Mae Ra Moe,  Mae La Oon, Umpiem, Noh Poe, Ban Don Yang, and Tham Hin camps. The other two camps hold mainly Karenni refugees and are overseen by the Karenni Refugee Committee (KnRC).

The Border Consortium (TBC), a coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from nine countries, provides humanitarian aid to the refugees in all of the nine camps. According to TBC’s figures, in 2023 it supplied food to over 80,000 refugees in the camps