The Precarious Status of Migrants in Thailand: Reflections on the Exodus of Cambodian Migrants and Lessons Learnt (2014)

Beginning in June 2014, Thailand witnessed the departure of huge numbers of Cambodian migrant workers who were deported or left voluntarily in fear of government crackdowns. In anticipation of an eventual return of these migrants back to Thailand, and hoping that they would do so through formal channels, both Thailand and Cambodia swiftly introduced a number of policy reforms to make legal migration channels more accessible.

MMN and its partner organisations believed it was critical to ensure that these rapidly developing responses reflected the voices of migrants and their families, and decided to conduct a series of interviews for this purpose in four provinces of Cambodia. While the study was being carried out in these areas, large numbers of migrants started going back to Thailand. Therefore, MMN extended the scope of its work and carried out interviews with those who had returned to Thailand, their employers, and local government officials in Thailand.

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