This book explores how children have been affected by armed conflict in the borderlands of Thailand, particularly in the region abutting the Thailand-Myanmar border, and in the most southern part of Thailand. The author argues that the Thai government has made great efforts to protect children from armed conflict in these borderlands. The author analyzes the obstacles facing the Thai government in protecting children from armed conflict in the borderlands, and advances alternative solutions for how the Thai government might better protect children from armed conflict in the foreseeable future. This book not only opens a window for future research on children affected by armed conflict in the borderlands of Thailand and beyond, but also contributes to the breadth of perspective and depth of expertise in related fields, such as studies of human insecurity. It is relevant to scholars, graduate students, and policymakers interested in the impact of armed conflict on children.

This book focuses on children affected by armed conflict in the borderlands of Myanmar since the regime-change event in 2021. In the borderlands of this country, uncountable children have been killed or maimed by indiscriminate weapons, raids, artillery bombardments and air strikes. Concerning the Burmese children living in the rest of Myanmar, they have been exposed to feelings of insecurity and growing anxieties caused by deadly bombings and assassinations. No place in Myanmar is immune from armed conflict. Many displaced Burmese children fled into the neighboring countries, which did not ratify the 1951 Refugee Convention. With no refugee status, some displaced children faced the risk of being arrested and deported. Some displaced children became victims of human trafficking, or led a life of vagrancy. The stakeholders responsible for protecting children from armed conflict, have been promoting Myanmar towards reconciliation in their own ways. However, the stakeholders had to deal with three obstacles, that is, lack of consensus, insufficient cohesion and funding gap. When a national ceasefire is unavailable in Myanmar, the conflicting parties would probably welcome a humanitarian ceasefire in the borderlands of this country, rather than wearing each other out. In the case of Myanmar, a humanitarian ceasefire should be composed of three parts: immediate access to victims of armed conflict, safe passage of civilians, and release of detainees in batches. If everything goes well, an agreement for a humanitarian ceasefire in the borderlands of Myanmar, would be followed with peace talks in the foreseeable future.

Millions of children around the world are affected by conflict, and the enduring aftermath of war in post-conflict societies. This book reflects on the implications of children’s insecurity for governments and the international humanitarian community by drawing on original field research in post-conflict Cambodia and in Burma’s eastern conflict zones. The book examines the way that politics and discourses of security and child protection have further marginalised rather than enhanced the protection of children. In Cambodia, threats from trafficking, exploitative labour, and high levels of domestic and social violence challenge the government and the international humanitarian community to respond to the new human security terrain that is the legacy of three decades of political violence. Burma has endured over 60 years of insurgency and civil conflict in ethnic minority states, significantly affecting children who are recruited into armies, killed, maimed or tortured, and displaced. Analysing the theoretical and practical challenges faced in addressing children’s security in global politics, the book offers a novel framework for responding to the politics of protection that is at the heart of this crucial issue. It is a useful contribution to studies on Asian Politics and International Relations and Security.

The civil war in Burma has been dubbed as the longest running internal conflict in the world, and hundreds of thousands have fled desperation and abuse across the border to Thailand. Today, countless of exiles live on the Thailand-Burma border as undocumented migrants, whilst thousands of others have lived confined to the refugee camps for years, even decades, with no way out. And all the while, hundreds of thousands are still displaced in the jungles of eastern Burma. Although there have recently been changes in Burma's political landscape, the underlying causes of the conflict remain unaddressed. Recent changes on the border have adversely affected the refugee population and severely hampered not only aid efforts but also the work of the pro-democracy and capacity building movement that has thrived on the Thailand-Burma border for decades. This book provides an insight into the situation on the border and the lives of those who remain trapped in a limbo.

In Asia, where authoritarian-developmental states have proliferated, statehood and social control are heavily contested in borderland spaces. As a result, in the post-Cold War world, borders have not only redefined Asian incomes and mobilities, they have also rekindled neighbouring relations and raised questions about citizenship and security. The contributors to the Routledge Handbook of Asian Borderlands highlight some of these processes taking place at the fringe of the state. Offering an array of comparative perspectives of Asian borders and borderlands in the global context, this handbook is divided into thematic sections, including: Livelihoods, commodities and mobilities Physical land use and agrarian transformations Borders and boundaries of the state and the notion of statelessness Re-conceptualizing trade and the economy in the borderlands The existence and influence of humanitarians, religions, and NGOs The militarization of borderlands Causing us to rethink and fundamentally question some of the categories of state, nation, and the economy, this is an important resource for students and scholars of Asian Studies, Border Studies, Social and Cultural Studies, and Anthropology. Chapter 12 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.