Myanmar Migrants to Do Without Free Health Care
 Tens of thousands of Myanmar migrants are believed to do without access to free medical services now that Médecins Sans Frontières has ended its mission in Thailand.
MSF, which provided medical treatments free of charge in Thailand for the past 35 years, announced on Wednesday the French agency had stopped doing so due to alleged interference by Thai authorities, reported The Irrawaddy news website.
“Despite negotiations with the authorities, we have not been authorized to provide health care to undocumented migrants,” said Denis Penoy, MSF's head of the Thailand mission.
More than 55,000 people have been affected by the closure of MSF's mission in Samut Sakorn and Three Pagodas Pass on the Thai-Myanmar border, Penoy said.
“They are mostly undocumented migrants and people living along the border with Myanmar who have been deprived of access to health care,” he said.
MSF, which provided free medical treatments for migrant workers and refugees, either registered or illegal, in Thailand since 1976, expressed deep concerns about the livelihood of those who would be left without access to any other health care options.
They might possibly be forced to return home in Myanmar as illegal migrants, according to the MSF mission head.
“MSF's departure will mean there will be no other independent organization monitoring the health care situation of those migrants,” said Penoy.
Despite efforts by the Thai authorities to register migrants, more than one million of them currently remain undocumented and not entitled to health care provided by Thai government units.
More than 90 percent of unregistered migrants in Thailand are from Myanmar and the rest from Cambodia and Laos.
Most are either new arrivals or those who have had difficulties acquiring documents needed for registration with Thai authorities. Many could not afford to pay registration fees or could not find employers willing to get them registered, according to the Myanmar dissident website.
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