Recent work on the Thai-Burma border where communities of Burmese have lived for decades without employee, health and human rights
Migrants, asylum seekers and their health and human rights are important topics for humanitarian research which is a branch of applied research that deals with abuse of power and its effect on populations. This paper reports on recent work on the Thai-Burma border where communities of Burmese have lived for decades without employee, health and human rights. The health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were investigated in communities (“clusters”) of migrants from Burma living in villages in the Sangkhlaburi District of Thailand, adjacent to the Thai-Burma border. Hunger was experienced regularly in 70% of the households, and 26% of children under 5 years were underweight. Malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS were prevalent. Few households took part in family planning, and there were many large families and disabled children. The health of the migrant populations was compromised by poverty, social exclusion, and under- or unemployment. Stakeholders in discussion groups concurred with the authors that tuberculosis detection and treatment and food production activities were important issues to address in developing projects to improve migrant health.
