Burmese people in China

[5] The boundary area is inhabited by non-Han and non-Burmese peoples, and has been traditionally kept as a buffer region between the various Chinese and Burmese empires.

Burmese migrants in Chinese border cities live and work within China but endure economic exploitation, spatial confinement and social discrimination.

[9] In recent years, several towns along the border, such as Mong La, Ruili and Muse, have become centres of gambling, prostitution and drug smuggling.

[3] During the pandemic, Ruili's population declined by 40,000 with many businesses being forced to close as China's Zero-COVID policy cut off all trade and migration with Myanmar until the partial reopening of the border checkpoint in January 2023.

The vast majority of the detainees were undocumented illegal border crossers held in Yunnan after overstaying their six-day tourist visas.

[16] Yunnan province sheltered tens of thousands of refugees during periods of intensified clashes between Myanmar's military and ethnic armed organisations throughout the 2010s.

[20] In 2021, in the wake of the intensifying violence after the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, China scrambled to secure its borders and limit refugees over fears of COVID-19.