Despite shrinking support, refugees in Thailand continue to lead in providing essential services. Our new report highlights the achievements of refugee-led initiatives (RLIs) – and the urgent reforms need to support them.
Refugee-led initiatives in Thailand have sustained displaced communities for decades, often quietly and without the recognition they deserve. Today, amid protracted displacement, tightening restrictions, and the far-reaching impact of aid cuts introduced under the Trump administration, these organisations are stepping up in extraordinary ways. A new report, developed through a partnership between the Kaldor Centre, the Asia Pacific Network of Refugees (APNOR), and Act for Peace, documents how refugee-led organisations are providing essential services with skill, professionalism and unwavering resilience.
As the humanitarian landscape shifts and international funding contracts, Thailand’s refugee-led initiatives (RLIs) are increasingly filling critical gaps once covered by external actors. The report, authored by Brian Barbour, Mohammad Baqir Bayani, Najeeba Wazefadost, Patrick Wall and Tristan Harley, highlights how RLIs have adapted to escalating needs – delivering education, healthcare, protection and governance – even as their operating environment becomes more restrictive.
The findings challenge outdated assumptions that refugees are passive recipients of aid.
Instead, Thailand’s model of refugee self-governance shows that when refugees are trusted and empowered, they design and deliver solutions that are more effective, more responsive and more sustainable.
At the same time, the report makes clear that this success is fragile. Without predictable, flexible support and policy settings that allow RLIs to operate without undue barriers, the system risks being stretched beyond its limits. Advocacy is urgently required to counter the politicisation of refugee protection, while donors must explore ways of supporting RLIs that reflect real needs and promote long-term resilience.
This collaborative report – bringing together refugee leaders, scholars and civil society – demonstrates how cross-sector partnerships can generate rigorous, grounded evidence that strengthens meaningful refugee participation. By centring the expertise of RLIs, the project reflects an emerging shift in how refugee responses can and should be shaped.
Ultimately, the report argues that supporting RLIs is not only a matter of equity; it is essential to building a sustainable, effective refugee response.
To explore the full findings – and understand why refugee leadership in Thailand offers lessons for the global system – read the full report, A Model of Refugee Self -Governance: The Contributions and Challenges of Refugee-led Initiatives in Thailand.
For more, visit the UNSW Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law.