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International Journal of
Population Studies A Burmese woman’s migration and exclusion

how to do that.’ He taught me one time and two times, and conflicts and then school closed for about 3 years. Because
then he is angry. He’s been mad. I do not understand. My they strike people… people cannot gather, and they are not
tears… I forgot because I was scared of him.” allowed to be in groups.” Although the institution had shut
Even in this emotionally difficult environment, her down, Aye continued to support her family by working in
mother actively sought solutions. When a skilled math a bamboo weaving factory while attending online classes,
teacher moved into their neighborhood, she paid for eventually completing her degree.
tutoring: “my mom knew that I was weak at math… so Even after earning an accounting diploma through a
that is why she gave the teacher money… and then I can British Embassy program and working as an accounting
overcome it because he teaches really well.” This targeted assistant, with a salary three times higher than her
support helped Aye gain confidence and overcome her previous job, Aye still could not meet her mother’s
fear of math. Eventually, all four children in the family medical needs. As the only daughter, she felt a deep
were admitted to university. Aye studied physics, while personal obligation to care for her. “Because I am close
her brothers pursued engineering, math, and international to my mom, she suffered all the time. So, I do not want to
relations. see it… If she has no money, she cannot go to the doctor,
These stories reflect how Aye’s access to education, has no medicine, and has no treatment.” To generate
confidence, and mobility was not granted by systems but more income, Aye migrated to Malaysia through an
actively built through the labor and foresight of women employment agency and took a job in a factory as a
in her family. While formal institutions, schools, work human resource assistant. Her salary was again triple
structures, and even families limited women’s options, what she had earned in Burma. She explained: “so I
her grandmother and mother modeled an alternative: keep some money, so my salary is higher, my mom got
self-agency as a strategy for seeking integration in a more, but she always said, I have no money, no money,
new cultural context for survival. Their actions created I need this, I need this… So, it made me go to another
pathways that were not designed for women, and Aye country… that is why I went to Malaysia.”
inherited not just their struggles but also their strategies. Her life in Malaysia, however, was defined by legal and
This intergenerational agency became the foundation social constraints. During the week, workers were not
from which she later navigated life in Malaysia and allowed to leave the factory. Though weekends offered
the United States. When Aye recounted the stories the chance to go outside, Aye typically chose to work
of her grandmother and mother, it became clear that extra shifts for double pay: “I work Monday to Friday,
structural constraints on women’s autonomy often and Saturday and Sunday, I work extra… So I do not have
necessitated migration as a means of survival and child- break time.” For 2 years, she worked nearly nonstop, her
rearing. Within this process, what these women sought health gradually deteriorating as a result.
was not belonging, but access to resources, safety, and
opportunities. The intergenerational self-pursuit of Eventually, Aye developed a serious kidney condition.
integration emerged as a form of legacy, passed down A doctor warned her that she would need dialysis. But
through maternal lines. without legal residency or health coverage, Malaysia could
no longer offer her access to care. Returning to Burma was
3.2. Constrained choices, strategic negotiation: Aye’s equally impossible. “If I go back to my country, I cannot
migration journey through Malaysia and the United make money… [If I stayed in Malaysia] with no legal
States permit, people will put me into jail… Some girls were sent
Aye’s migration journey was shaped not by displacement to Thailand… a lot of undocumented people, especially
in the conventional refugee sense but by a constellation women, were made into sex workers.” Her reflection reveals
of structural exclusions, gendered family obligations, and the compound vulnerabilities faced by undocumented
health-related precarity that left her with few viable choices. women in transit states, vulnerabilities intensified by
Her story illustrates how access to education, income, legal gender, class, and health.
protection, and healthcare must be negotiated relationally To avoid both detention and untreated illness, Aye
and strategically, rather than assumed through formal made a difficult decision: she married a man with refugee
pathways like citizenship or refugee status. status to gain protection and relocate to the United States.
After completing 2 years of university in Burma, Aye’s “So I chose the second option,” she said. “It was a risky
education was abruptly halted by national unrest. “I decision for my marriage, but I made it to support my
studied for 2 years,” she recalled, “after that we [had] big family.” Strikingly, after arriving in the United States, her

Volume 11 Issue 6 (2025) 86 https://doi.org/10.36922/IJPS025160060