Limits and Risks of the Thailand–Myanmar Humanitarian Corridor Initiative

Abstract In Myanmar, the state is itself a party to the conflict and a principal driver of displacement; to operate humanitarian response “through official channels” is therefore to operate through the perpetrator’s infrastructure. This article examines how humanitarian action in Myanmar’s border areas, and the Thailand and ASEAN “humanitarian corridor” launched in 2024, exposes the moral and political contradictions of aid in authoritarian contexts. Reading the corridor through Johan Galtung’s framework of conflict transformation, the analysis treats displacement not as an emergency to be managed but as the visible expression of a deeper architecture of violence. From this vantage, the corridor delivers a fragile negative peace, the appearance of relief and order, while leaving untouched the structural violence that produces displacement. Drawing on practitioner field observation along the Thai–Myanmar border and engagement with humanitarian coordination platforms, the analysis situates local realities within the wider politics of neutrality and legitimacy. The article advances a conceptual argument for re-politicizing humanitarianism, reframed as a project of conflict transformation oriented toward positive peace: to re-politicize humanitarianism is to recognize that neutrality cannot mean silence but must mean courage, justice, and a willingness to engage with power.