A Thai immigration center accused of aiding the Myanmar junta’s conscription drive deported another 200 Myanmar nationals to regime authorities in Kawthaung town, Tanintharyi Region, in late February, sparking international protests. All but four of the deportees were reportedly conscripted by the regime.
A recent investigation by The Irrawaddy exposed how the junta is using Ranong Immigration Center as a recruitment hub, forcibly conscripting hundreds of its detainees amid recruitment struggles at home.
The investigation revealed that Thai authorities in Ranong are indirectly aiding conscription efforts under the cover of an immigration crackdown, handing over 1,556 mostly male Myanmar nationals to regime authorities in Kawthaung between June and December 2024.
One detainee reported that a Myanmar military officer visited the Ranong center to pre-select men, including himself, for conscription.
Human rights defenders, anti-regime groups, and conscripts’ family members have called on the Thai government to stop deporting young people into a life-threatening situation in Myanmar.
Bangkok is already facing intense international criticism over its forced deportation of 48 Uyghurs to China on Feb. 27. The Chinese government is accused of committing widespread human rights abuses against one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the northwestern Xinjiang region.
The Uyghur deportation came just three days after Ranong Immigration Office stated it had deported another 200 Myanmar detainees to “reduce congestion” at the center.
The center holds mainly undocumented immigrants and those accused of minor crimes.
A representative of a human rights group monitoring the junta’s conscription of deportees from Thailand told The Irrawaddy that all 200 deportees, except for four women, were sent to the junta’s Battalion 262 headquarters in Kawthaung for mandatory military service.
“They will undergo two medical checkups and be forcibly conscripted. Only those considered disabled or unfit for military service will be released,” the source said.
Conscripts from Kawthaung are sent for military training in Tanintharyi’s Palaw township.
The representative condemned the Ranong deportation process as “unacceptable.”
“This is among the worst forms of human rights violation. These individuals have already served their penalty for various charges in Thailand and should be free upon returning to their homeland.”
After suffering the major battlefield defeats across the country, the regime activated the forced conscription law on Feb.10, 2024, mandating two years of military service for men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27. The move triggered an exodus of young people to neighboring countries, prompting the regime to ban men aged 18 to 35 from leaving the country.
Stars of Myanmar Friendship, a UK-based civil society group, led protests outside the Thai and Malaysian embassies in London on Tuesday, opposing the deportation of undocumented Myanmar migrants into the hands of junta conscription authorities.
The group also joined 19 civil society organizations who signed letters calling on the Thai and Malaysian governments to halt deportations to Myanmar.
In a separate letter to the Thai government, the group stated that Myanmar nationals handed over by Thailand are being forcibly conscripted for use as human shields and landmine clearance.
It urged Thai government to offer humanitarian protections to those fleeing Myanmar’s conflict and oppressive military regime, pointing out that the 1951 Refugee Convention and international law prohibit states from deporting individuals to places where they are at risk of persecution, harm, or death.
Stars of Myanmar Friendship stated that although Thailand is not a signatory to the Refugee Convention, it is still bound by human rights treaties, including the international Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that prohibits forced labor and arbitrary detention.
This article is supported by the Transition Promotion Programme, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.
