A group of families from Myanmar gathered in their compound to celebrate the start of the rainy season as a thunderstorm rolled through a border town in Thailand. Children ran around until their clothes were soaked, while men chewed betel and drank tea from the veranda. A woman in a sarong brought out shampoo and washed her hair. It was a brief respite for the families, who are all refugees, though they appreciated the time away from the oppressive heat.

They come from incredibly diverse backgrounds, including politicians, community organisers, civil servants who refused to serve under the military regime, and regular citizens who were drawn into the pro-democracy movement. Their stories are similar in that they all fled their homes after the military coup in February of last year, entered Thailand illegally, and then made a request for humanitarian aid from the UNHCR.

There is no set time frame for the resettlement screening procedure, and some of the families Al Jazeera spoke to said that they started the procedure more than a year ago. Due to their undocumented status, they hardly ever leave the boundaries of their compound while they wait.

Since gaining government control in Myanmar 17 months ago, the military has attempted to quell dissent and crush widespread opposition to his regime. While the military reacted to the growing armed resistance movement by attacking adversaries with bombing and cannon firing, police shot and killed hundreds of non-violent protesters.
According to a UN monthly humanitarian update released in June, 40,000 people crossed into India and 758,000 people have left their homes since the coup. Nearly 800,000 people have fled their homes overall.

The situation has worsened since the last week of June, when heavy fighting broke out near the Thai border between the military and armed resistance groups. Myanmar military forces have repeatedly attacked the area from the air, killing civilians and fighters.

Rights organisations like Human Rights Watch and Fortify Rights have claimed that Thai officials have occasionally forced back and blocked refugees from Myanmar from crossing the border the Thai government has refuted these claims.