Two groups called Save Myanmar USA and Anti-Dictatorship in Burma – DC Metro Area protested at Thailand’s Embassy in Washington, DC on Wednesday. They called on Thailand not to deport undocumented Myanmar migrants, who have been detained by Thai immigration.

“These deportations are life-threatening, so we’re asking [Thailand] to stop deportations and grant temporary residency permits,” Yin Aye, the Save Myanmar USA spokesperson, told DVB.

Protesters delivered an open letter addressed to the Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa. 

The letter requested temporary refuge, or asylum, for undocumented Myanmar nationals in Thailand and for consultations with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), before deporting them to Myanmar.

The regime has reportedly conscripted undocumented Myanmar nationals deported from Thailand. 

Last September, 127 migrant workers from Myanmar deported from Thailand were taken for military conscription upon arrival at Kawthaung Township in Tanintharyi Region, which is located across the border from Ranong Province of Thailand.

The regime enforced its conscription law on Feb. 10, 2024. It amended the law with stricter guidelines in January 2024. 

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) stated in January that an estimated 1.3 million Myanmar nationals have entered Thailand since the military coup on fFeb. 1, 2021 up until December 2024. 

Long-term entries from Myanmar increased by 28 percent in Thailand last year compared to 2023. Following the enforcement of the conscription law – between March and April 2024 – the number of Myanmar nationals entering Thailand increased more than threefold compared to the same period in 2023. 

Approximately 44 percent of long-term arrivals from Myanmar in Thailand have no documentation, according to IOM.

The 2014 census reported that approximately four percent of the Myanmar population, or 2.02 million people, were residing outside of the country. 

Of these emigrants, about 1.4 million, or 70 percent of Myanmar’s overseas population, were living in Thailand. The next was Malaysia with 304,000. Fewer than 100,000 reside in other countries.