A recently enacted legal framework in Thailand has heightened the risk that individuals fleeing political repression in Myanmar will be deported and forcibly recruited into the military’s units of so-called “one-way troops.” For Nway, a 23-year-old Burmese political activist currently residing in Chiang Mai, the fear of being dragged from her home is a constant reality. Nway, who spent four years in prison before fleeing Myanmar in April 2026 to avoid forced conscription, remains a high-profile target for the military regime that seized power in a 2021 coup. The military, which currently maintains full control over only about 20 percent of Myanmar’s territory, has conscripted more than 30,000 young people since February 2024 to bolster its struggling forces.
Nway’s journey to safety was facilitated by her mother, who paid authorities to help her escape after police repeatedly targeted their home and demanded money to keep Nway off a conscription list. In Chiang Mai, Nway reunited with Pho Thar, an activist and photojournalist she had known at university. Both had been held in separate facilities within Yangon’s Insein Prison for years. While Pho Thar has secured a “pink card”—a migrant worker’s permit that serves as the most accessible path to legal residency for Myanmar nationals—Nway is still in the process of obtaining hers. Pho Thar, who has been arrested four times by Burmese authorities, carries a permanent shoulder injury from his final arrest and believes he would be killed if he were forced to return to Myanmar.
The security of thousands of young refugees like Nway and Pho Thar is increasingly threatened by harassment from Thai police and a new deportation law approved in August 2026. This legal framework was designed to administer deportation issues “speedily and effectively” in the absence of pre-existing concrete guidelines. Civil society organizations have expressed deep concern, noting that the law lacks safeguards against non-refoulement, which would prevent refugees from being sent back to countries where they face persecution. While the legislation mentions that deportation decisions should account for Thailand’s “relevant international obligations,” it contains no explicit protections for asylum seekers.
The situation is particularly dire for the nearly 4 million Myanmar nationals living in Thailand, almost half of whom are undocumented. These individuals face regular extortion and threats from authorities. A 2025 report by Human Rights Watch identified that police bribes in the border city of Mae Sot had become so common that officials referred to Myanmar nationals as “walking ATMs.” For 22-year-old Aung, an undocumented refugee working in a garment factory for 150 baht a day—roughly $4.50—the fear of police is so intense that he rarely leaves his workplace. His mother continues to pay bribes in Myanmar to prevent his siblings from being conscripted in his place. “If I was deported to Myanmar, I would be taken to the frontlines and I will never go back home,” Aung said.
Kyaw, a 35-year-old music producer, also continues to pay monthly bribes for his three siblings who have fled the country. He decided to leave Yangon after witnessing military personnel kidnap young colleagues during a work break. Having already paid a 14-million-kyat bribe—over $6,600—to avoid arrest and conscription, he now waits for his documents in Mae Sot. He remains adamant that he will not serve in what he describes as a civil war. Another refugee, Elsa, who fled to Mae Sot in 2023, reported that her family did not leave their home for four months in 2024 due to increased patrols and arrests.
Two foreign nationals have already been deported under the new framework. Thanida Piyachot, a human rights specialist at Fortify Rights, criticized the government for enacting regulations that affect human rights without a thorough review. Tanyakorn Thippayapokin of Asylum Access Thailand warned that the law is written broadly enough to be used for extortion and harassment. The Coalition for the Rights of Refugees and Stateless Persons has called for a prompt review of the regulations to align them with international principles. For the refugees interviewed, the consensus is that deportation would lead to forced conscription and likely death on the frontlines—a risk they believe the new legal framework fails to consider. Nway, meanwhile, hopes for a simple life in Chiang Mai where she can sleep peacefully without the fear she experienced in Yangon. Some names have been changed to preserve respondents’ anonymity.
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