An immigration detention center in Bangkok, Thailand, February 26, 2025.
(Bangkok) – Thai authorities should halt the imminent deportation of 26 ethnic Karen villagers from Phetchaburi province to Myanmar and release them from immigration detention, Human Rights Watch said today.
On August 10, 2026, district and forestry officials along with the Thai military raided the Karen community in Ban Pa Deng village in Phetchaburi province’s Kaeng Krachan National Park, targeting those without proof of Thai citizenship. The authorities arrested twenty-eight villagers, including eight children and two pregnant women, and placed them in the custody of the Phetchaburi provincial immigration office. Two villagers were later released after local officials verified their residence registration records. The immigration office then transferred the remaining 26 villagers to the Suan Phlu Immigration Detention Center in Bangkok to prosecute them on immigration charges and deport them to Myanmar.
“Deporting ethnic Karen villagers to Myanmar would put them at risk of grave danger,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Thai authorities should work with the community to ensure access to their ancestral lands for their livelihood.”
Since the February 2021 coup, Myanmar’s military junta has carried out a nationwide campaign of mass killings, torture, arbitrary arrests, and unlawful attacks that amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes. More than two million people have been internally displaced and over 100,000 refugees have fled to neighboring countries.
In the face of recent escalating fighting in Myanmar, Thai authorities have summarily determined that undocumented Karen in the Kaeng Krachan National Park, including local villagers, are “illegal immigrants,” community leaders told Human Rights Watch. Such classification means they are vulnerable
