The International Rescue Committee started working in Thailand in 1976 in response to the influx of refugees from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Today, we serve people uprooted from Burma (Myanmar), who began crossing into Thailand in 1984. Their number continues to grow because of Burma's ongoing human rights abuses and desperate economic conditions. An estimated 140,000 Burmese refugees currently live in nine camps strung along the Thai-Burma border. In addition, 450,000 people are internally displaced in eastern Burma while up to 1.5 million Burmese are living in hardship as economic migrants across Thailand.

How We Help

IRC programs along the Thailand-Burma border provide primary and community health care, water and sanitation, education, health technical training, organizational training, funding for food distribution, refugee legal assistance, advocacy, as well as gender-based violence prevention and response. The IRC also runs a strong support program for community-based organizations that provide humanitarian assistance to those displaced along Burma's isolated eastern border area. In addition, an IRC office in the Thai capital Bangkok assists people seeking admission to the United States as refugees.