"Dancing with fire in limbo": The consequences of Myanmar migrants' ambiguous legal status in Thailand
May 20, 2024
Dr. Sai Kyi Zin Soe

The Department of Anthropology and the Centre for Human Rights Research hosted a lecture with Dr. Sai Kyi Zin Soe on May 30, 2024. Dr. Soe’s presentation “”Dancing with fire in limbo”: The consequences of Myanmar migrants’ ambiguous legal status in Thailand” explores the challenges faced by Burmese refugees in Thailand, who navigate the precarious circumstances of displacement and legal ambiguity. Drawing on social science research, it examines the drivers of forced migration from Myanmar, including the intensified civil war, persecution of ethnic minorities, and economic hardship. In Thailand, these refugees are officially classified as “illegal migrants,” leaving them in a state of limbo without access to essential services and vulnerable to arrest and deportation. Simultaneously, Burmese nationals face pressure to conform to their communities’ expectations regarding political activism and in-country revolution. The presentation emphasizes the importance of understanding these complex realities through a social science lens to inform holistic, rights -based approaches to development policy and practice. By advocating for legal recognition, refugee empowerment, and research-informed strategies, this presentation highlights the transformative potential of social science in shaping policies that bridge the gap between displacement and belonging, positioning refugees as agents of change.
Dr. Sai Kyi Zin Soe is a Research Affiliate at the Centre for Disability Research and Policy, Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney. Currently, he serves as a Senior Consultant at the Foundation for Education and Development (FED), dedicated to assisting Myanmar migrants in Thailand. Additionally, he provides support to the Karenni State Interim Parliament (KSIP) in the capacity of a Technical Advisor.

On Thursday, October 24- Friday, October 25, 2024, the Queer & Trans Graduate Student Group and the Centre for Human Rights Research at the University of Manitoba are thrilled to host Pride in Health 2024 — a two-day conference that seeks to provide a space for 2SLGBTQIA+ students and researchers to present their work.
Pride in Health will offer students and researchers from across Canada the opportunity to present their work and to build connections with one another in the process. This event also offers an important platform to combat the rampant misinformation regarding 2SLGBTQIA+ healthcare, especially trans healthcare, with research conducted here in Canada.
With a focus on healthcare as a human rights issue, this event will allow this increasingly politicised topic to be addressed from the perspective of fundamental human rights, rather than a controversial issue in need of debate. Pride in Health utilizes a broad definition of health and accepts submissions for presentations from all fields, including but not limited to creative writing, psychology, history, and sociology.

Our Day 2 Agenda is available now (subject to change). Register now to join us at Pride in Health.
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Whether you are passionate about interdisciplinary human rights research, social justice programming, or student training and mentorship, the University of Manitoba offers opportunities to support the opportunities most important to you.
On Thursday, October 3rd, the Decolonizing Lens presents a film screening of Kanàtenhs — When the Pine Needles Fall – a film by Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel.
The event will include a film screening and discussion of Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel’s award-winning documentary. Kanien’kehaka artist and activist Ellen Gabriel became the first Indigenous artist to win the Grand Prix of the Conseils des arts de Montréal for this work in April 2024. The film recounts the 1990 “Mohawk Crisis’ (the siege of Kanehsatà:ke) from the perspective of Indigenous women land defenders.
The screening will be followed by a discussion with the filmmaker and CHRR Affiliates Dr. Niigaan Sinclair and Dr. Sean Carleton.
The event is co-sponsored by Decolonizing Lens, WAG-Qaumajuq, the Margaret Laurence Endowment Fund (Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Manitoba), the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, and the Centre for Human Rights Research.
Free and open to all. No registration is required.
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Whether you are passionate about interdisciplinary human rights research, social justice programming, or student training and mentorship, the University of Manitoba offers opportunities to support the opportunities most important to you.
Please join the University of Manitoba’s UNAI Hub for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 for its Last Drop Speakers’ Series. On October 21, 2024 at 11:30am, Dr. Donghoon Lee, Price Faculty of Engineering, University of Manitoba will present on “Forecasting for Disaster Resilience and Food Security.”
Register now at https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0s2qvfzGSl6iPvVMP9NOEg
For more on water sustainability issues including drinking water and sanitation, water governance, and international climate issues, check out previous speakers for the Last Drop at: https://www.youtube.com/@officeofsustainability/playlists
Support Us
Whether you are passionate about interdisciplinary human rights research, social justice programming, or student training and mentorship, the University of Manitoba offers opportunities to support the opportunities most important to you.
Join us for a special evening with Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel and Sean Carleton as they discuss their new book, When the Pine Needles Fall: Indigenous Acts of Resistance (Between the Lines). The event will be hosted by CHRR Research Affiliate Dr. Kiera Ladner.
There have been many things written about Canada’s violent siege of Kanehsatà:ke and Kahnawà:ke in the summer of 1990, but When the Pine Needles Fall: Indigenous Acts of Resistance is the first book from the perspective of Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel, who was the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) spokesperson during the siege. When the Pine Needles Fall, written in a conversational style by Gabriel with historian Sean Carleton, offers an intimate look at Gabriel’s life leading up to the 1990 siege, her experiences as spokesperson for her community, and her work since then as an Indigenous land defender, human rights activist, and feminist leader. Gabriel’s hopes for a decolonial future make clear why protecting Indigenous homelands is vital not only for the survival of Indigenous peoples, but for all who live on this planet.

Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel is a Kanien’kehá:ka, Wakeniáhton (Turtle Clan), artist, documentarian, and Indigenous human rights and environmental rights activist living in Kanehsatà:ke Kanien’kehá:ka Homelands.
Sean Carleton is a settler historian and professor of history and Indigenous Studies at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Treaty 1 Territory.
Host Kiera Ladner is the Canada Research Chair in Miyo We’citowin, Indigenous Governance & Digital Sovereignties and a Distinguished Professor of Indigenous Politics and Canadian Politics at the University of Manitoba.
No registration is necessary. This event will be hosted live in the Atrium of McNally Robinson Booksellers, Grant Park and also available as a YouTube stream.
Co-presented by Between the Lines, the Centre for Human Rights Research, and the Department of Indigenous Studies at the University of Manitoba.
Resources
Support Us
Whether you are passionate about interdisciplinary human rights research, social justice programming, or student training and mentorship, the University of Manitoba offers opportunities to support the opportunities most important to you.
Join the Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture and the Centre for Human Rights Research on Friday, October 4th for a creative writing workshop exploring traditional stories with Anishinaabe-Ukrainian writer Patty Krawec.
Traditional stories contain a wealth of information about how to relate to each other and the world around us, and they evolve over time to address the needs of particular communities or times. In this creative writing workshop participants will take a traditional story from their own community and rewrite it in part or in whole to highlight its relevance to contemporary needs. We will have time for talking about our traditional stories and the issues that concern us, writing, and then sharing what we’ve come up with.
Participants are asked to bring something to write with (ex. a notebook or a computer) and a story they are familiar with.
Patty Krawec is an Anishinaabe/Ukrainian writer and speaker belonging to Lac Seul First Nation in Treaty 3 territory and residing in Niagara Falls. She has served on the board of the Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre and co-hosted the Medicine for the Resistance podcast. She is a founding director of the Nii’kinaaganaa Foundation which challenges settlers to pay their rent for living on Indigenous land and then disburses those funds to Indigenous people, meeting immediate survival needs as well as supporting the organizing and community building needed to address the structural issues that create those needs.
To ensure we have enough space, please register at: https://forms.office.com/r/zS7E9z6uib.
For information on getting to the University of Manitoba campus, please see: https://umanitoba.ca/about-um/our-campuses/getting-here. If you have any questions, please contact chrrman@umanitoba.ca.
Support Us
Whether you are passionate about interdisciplinary human rights research, social justice programming, or student training and mentorship, the University of Manitoba offers opportunities to support the opportunities most important to you.
In collaboration with the Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture, please join us on Friday, October 4th for a discussion with Anishinaabe-Ukrainian writer Patty Krawec on her book, Becoming Kin.
Patty Krawec is an Anishinaabe/Ukrainian writer and speaker belonging to Lac Seul First Nation in Treaty 3 territory and residing in Niagara Falls. She has served on the board of the Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre and co-hosted the Medicine for the Resistance podcast. She is a founding director of the Nii’kinaaganaa Foundation which challenges settlers to pay their rent for living on Indigenous land and then disburses those funds to Indigenous people, meeting immediate survival needs as well as supporting the organizing and community building needed to address the structural issues that create those needs. With a background in social work, Patty focused on supporting victims of sexual and gendered violence as well as child abuse. She is a strong believer in the power of collective organizing, and was an active union member throughout her career as a social worker.
Her current work and writing focuses on how Anishinaabe belonging and thought can inform faith and social justice practices and has been published in Sojourners, Rampant Magazine, Midnight Sun, Yellowhead Institute, Indiginews, Religion News Service, and Broadview. Her first book, Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining Our Future was published in 2022 by Broadleaf Books. Her second book about the ways that subaltern writing and storytelling can help us reimagine that future will be published in the fall of 2025. She lives on Twitter as @gindaanis and you can find her online at daanis.ca

No registration is necessary.
For more information on getting to the University of Manitoba campus, please see: https://umanitoba.ca/about-um/our-campuses/getting-here. If you have any questions, please contact chrrman@umanitoba.ca.
Resources
Becoming Kin: A Discussion with Patty Krawec – Video Recording
Support Us
Whether you are passionate about interdisciplinary human rights research, social justice programming, or student training and mentorship, the University of Manitoba offers opportunities to support the opportunities most important to you.
On Thursday, October 24- Friday, October 25, 2024, the Queer & Trans Graduate Student Group and the Centre for Human Rights Research at the University of Manitoba are thrilled to host Pride in Health 2024 — a two-day conference that seeks to provide a space for 2SLGBTQIA+ students and researchers to present their work.
Pride in Health will offer students and researchers from across Canada the opportunity to present their work and to build connections with one another in the process. This event also offers an important platform to combat the rampant misinformation regarding 2SLGBTQIA+ healthcare, especially trans healthcare, with research conducted here in Canada.
With a focus on healthcare as a human rights issue, this event will allow this increasingly politicised topic to be addressed from the perspective of fundamental human rights, rather than a controversial issue in need of debate. Pride in Health utilizes a broad definition of health and accepts submissions for presentations from all fields, including but not limited to creative writing, psychology, history, and sociology.

Our Day 1 Agenda is now available (subject to change), Register now to join us at Pride in Health.
Support Us
Whether you are passionate about interdisciplinary human rights research, social justice programming, or student training and mentorship, the University of Manitoba offers opportunities to support the opportunities most important to you.
On Tuesday, August 27th and Wednesday, August 28th, 2024, the Centre for Human Rights Research at the University of Manitoba and the Winnipeg School Division will welcome elementary, middle, and secondary educators to the “Putting the Knowing and Teaching of Canada’s Past in the Hot Seat” workshop.
The free two-day workshop, held at the University of Manitoba and Wolseley School, will facilitate discussions of how we might best teach and learn Canadian history in a way that acknowledges Indigenous histories and ongoing histories of colonialism. This will include presentations from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and scholar of education, curriculum, and pedagogy, Dr. Lindsay Gibson.

Programs for each day of the workshop will be emailed closer to the dates.
Registration is now closed.
This workshop is made possible by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada: Knowledge Synthesis Grant. For more information on the project, check out our web page.
Support Us
Whether you are passionate about interdisciplinary human rights research, social justice programming, or student training and mentorship, the University of Manitoba offers opportunities to support the opportunities most important to you.
On Wednesday, July 3, 2024, the Centre for Human Rights Research and the Institute for the Humanities at the University of Manitoba hosted Dr. Anne Lindsay for a seminar on “Archival Work for Social Justice Research, Indigenous Rights, and Human Rights Research.” This seminar is part of the CHRR’s Methods + Mediums in Human Rights Research series.

Dr. Anne Lindsay is a settler historian who has worked for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, and for the Office of the Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites Associated with Indian Residential Schools. Trained in both archival studies and history, she has been doing research in the areas of missing Indigenous children and Indian Residential School cemeteries in Manitoba and North-western Ontario for over ten years, and has been working with Indigenous individuals, families, and communities to locate records for over twenty. Her work with the Manitoba Indigenous Tuberculosis History Project has contributed to the creation of a research guide and related video modules designed to support families and communities searching for loved ones who were sent to Indigenous Hospitals and Sanatoria in Manitoba – including Indian Residential School students – in the period from the 1930s to the 1970s.
Dr. Lindsay shared the complex process she undertook, working alongside William Osborne, to locate the burial sites of his three aunties — Betsey, Isobel, and Nora Osborne — three sisters who were forced to leave their family and their Cross Lake Community and who never returned home. You can learn more about William and Anne’s work in their publication with At the Forks. The search to locate their burial sites anchors a broader conversation regarding the Indian Residential School System in Canada & how this living past continues to impact communities and families today.

Dr. Lindsay also shared her work with the Manitoba Indigenous Tuberculosis History Project and her dreams for a fully autonomous, Indigenous-led archives in Canada.
Support Us
Whether you are passionate about interdisciplinary human rights research, social justice programming, or student training and mentorship, the University of Manitoba offers opportunities to support the opportunities most important to you.
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