World Immigration News

(Melbourne Asia Review)How stateless Rohingya women and children are navigating vulnerability in Thailand and Malaysia

Release Date: 2026-06-01
Media: Melbourne Asia Review
Summary: The article examines the lives of Rohingya women and children living as stateless migrants in Thailand and Malaysia, focusing on the constant fear of immigration detention, deportation, violence, and poverty. Since being stripped of citizenship in Myanmar under the 1982 law, Rohingya people have remained legally excluded even after fleeing abroad, where restrictive immigration systems and xenophobia continue to expose them to severe vulnerability.

Because stateless people often cannot be deported anywhere, many Rohingya face prolonged or indefinite immigration detention. Women whose husbands are detained frequently suffer extreme financial hardship, forcing some into exploitative labor, child labor, or marriages for survival. Children are also harmed by detention policies, including the separation of boys over 12 from their mothers into adult detention facilities. Long-term detention and displacement contribute to trauma, mental health problems, and intergenerational harm.

The article also highlights corruption, extortion, and frequent immigration raids by police and border officials. Rohingya families often hide from authorities and avoid public places, schools, and even aid organizations out of fear of arrest. Despite these conditions, Rohingya women and communities develop informal survival strategies such as sharing information about raids, lending money within the community, relying on relatives, and practicing religious protection rituals.

The authors argue that statelessness acts as a “multiplier” of vulnerability, intensifying economic insecurity, gender-based risks, and exclusion from formal protection systems. In the absence of legal rights or durable solutions, Rohingya women depend largely on fragile community-based coping mechanisms rather than stable, rights-based protection.
Tags: Myanmar

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