
-
Sweden shooting kills three: police
-
Real Madrid's Rudiger, Mendy out injured until end of season
-
Dubois' trainer accuses Usyk of 'conning boxing world'
-
Femke Bol targets fast return after draining 2024
-
Asterix, Obelix and Netflix: US streamer embraces Gallic heroes
-
Watson wins Tour de Romandie prologue, Evenepoel eighth
-
Amazon says never decided to show tariff costs, after White House backlash
-
India gives army 'operational freedom' to respond to Kashmir attack
-
Stocks advance as investors weigh earnings, car tariff hopes
-
Canadian firm makes first bid for international seabed mining license
-
Kardashian robbery suspect says heist was one 'too many'
-
'Chilled' Swiatek scrapes into Madrid Open last eight
-
Interconnectivity: the cornerstone of the European electricity network
-
France accuses Russian military intelligence of cyberattacks
-
Multiple challenges await Canada's Carney
-
US consumer confidence hits lowest level since onset of pandemic
-
How climate change turned Sao Paulo's drizzle into a storm
-
Video game rides conclave excitement with cardinal fantasy team
-
Candles and radios in demand in Spain as blackout lessons sink in
-
Boca Juniors sack coach Gago ahead of Club World Cup
-
Trump celebrates tumultuous 100 days in office as support slips
-
Forest face 'biggest games of careers' in Champions League chase: Nuno
-
Stocks waver as investors weigh earnings, car tariff hopes
-
US climate assessment in doubt as Trump dismisses authors
-
W. House slams Amazon over 'hostile' plan to display tariff effect on prices
-
What we know ahead of conclave to elect new pope
-
EU top court rules 'golden passport' schemes are illegal
-
Mounds of waste dumped near Athens's main river: NGO
-
Spain starts probing causes of massive blackout
-
France targets cheap Chinese goods with fee on packages
-
Amnesty accuses Israel of 'live-streamed genocide' in Gaza
-
Japan, Philippines leaders vow to deepen security ties
-
AstraZeneca moves some production to US amid tariff threat
-
Shadman's ton gives Bangladesh lead in 2nd Zimbabwe Test
-
Barca's Yamal: I admire Messi but don't compare myself to him
-
Pfizer profits dip on lower Paxlovid sales
-
French right-wing TV host fans talk of presidential bid
-
Two men in court charged with 'moronic' felling of famed UK tree
-
Amnesty accuses Israel of 'live-streamed genocide' against Gazans
-
Spotify posts record profit in first quarter
-
Sciver-Brunt named as England women's cricket captain
-
GM profits top estimates, but automaker reviewing outlook due to tariffs
-
Stock markets edge up as Trump softens tariff pain for auto firms
-
Pricier trainers? Adidas warns on US tariff impact
-
Spain, Portugal rule out cyberattack for massive blackout
-
Suryavanshi, 14, dubbed India's next superstar after shattering records
-
Power back in Spain, Portugal after massive blackout
-
Pakistan says it shot down Indian drone along Kashmir border
-
Cardinals run the media gauntlet ahead of conclave
-
BP profit drops 70% amid pivot back to oil and gas

'No happiness': Misery for Myanmar exiles four years on from coup
Four years after Myanmar's military seized power in a coup, the country is in the grip of a bloody civil war that has driven many of the country's young across the border to Thailand.
There they scrape by doing hard jobs for little pay -- often living in fear of being arrested and sent back to Myanmar.
AFP met three of them in Mahachai, a district of Samut Sakhon in Bangkok's western suburbs known as "Little Myanmar" for its population of migrant workers.
They told of their experiences and hopes and fears for the future -- speaking under pseudonyms for their own safety and that of their families back in Myanmar.
- Ma Phyu: 'I lost all my dreams' -
"After the coup, I lost all my dreams," Ma Phyu told AFP.
Before the military seized power, the 28-year-old was teaching young children while studying at university in Yangon with the aim of qualifying as a teacher.
After the February 1, 2021 coup, which ousted the elected civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi, the generals launched a bloody campaign of violent repression against dissent.
Resistance has been fierce, led in large part by young people who grew up during Myanmar's 10-year dalliance with democracy.
Like thousands of others, Ma Phyu chose to flee Myanmar rather than live under the junta, and now cannot return for fear of retribution from the authorities.
Thailand is home to the world's largest Myanmar diaspora -- 2.3 million registered workers, plus another 1.8 million unofficial migrants, according to the UN migration agency IOM.
Lacking Thai language skills, Myanmar migrants in Thailand are forced into difficult and dirty jobs including construction, food and farm work -- often being paid below minimum wage.
Ma Phyu now works from 5:30 pm to 3:00 am in a fish processing plant, six days a week, regularly scolded by her supervisors for not understanding instructions in Thai.
Her husband arrived from Myanmar last year and the couple now live in a single-room apartment in Mahachai.
"I can't stand the smell of fish any more. I feel disgusted at work and it's the same at home. Nothing changes, I don't want to live any more," Ma Phyu said.
"My previous life was full of happiness. If there had been no coup, there would have been a good life for me."
- Lwin Lwin: 'There is no happiness' -
In a shabby room in a run-down building in Mahachai, Lwin Lwin practises Japanese grammar with five other Myanmar migrants.
The 21-year-old, who fled Myanmar without finishing high school, hopes learning the language will give her a way out of a tough existence in Thailand.
"The coup turned my life upside down. I thought I would finish school, go to university and work for the government," she told AFP.
"But then the coup happened and all my ambitions were swept away."
Like Ma Phyu, Lwin Lwin works in a fish processing factory in Samut Sakhon and lives in a crowded accommodation block.
"There is no happiness," she said.
"I never thought I would be working in canned fish factory, but no matter what I feel, sad or happy, I have to work."
- Thura: 'traumatised until we die' -
Thura, 25, fled Myanmar after the junta announced in February last year that it would enforce conscription into the military.
Like thousands of others, Thura chose to escape to Thailand rather than fight for a regime he did not believe in, abandoning his dream of running his own garage.
"At first I wanted to join a People's Defence Force and fight for the revolution," he said, referring to the civilian groups that have taken up arms across the country to oppose the junta's rule.
"But I have many siblings and I chose to come to Thailand."
Remittances from workers in Thailand are a vital lifeline for many families in Myanmar, where the civil war has wrecked the economy.
In 2022 nearly one billion dollars were sent from the kingdom, according to the IOM.
Thura is waiting for his "pink card" -- an official document allowing him to work in Thailand -- and until it arrives he rarely leaves the one-room apartment he shares with his sister.
"We will be traumatised by this military coup till we die," he said.
"If there were no coup, young people like us would be eating at home with our parents, brothers and sisters.
"Instead we are apart from our families for many years. It's not good and I feel sad for us."
H.E.Young--AMWN