This storytelling series shares the real-life experiences of migrant workers with disabilities, drawn from interviews conducted through our research project funded by the International Labour Organization (ILO) TRIANGLE. Each story offers a glimpse into the challenges, resilience, and hopes of individuals navigating migration and disability. To protect their privacy, names have been changed, and all images accompanying the stories are AI-generated representations.
A Migrant Worker’s Pursuit of Opportunities Abroad
Ma Nanda Khin is a 29-year-old Myanmar national with a hearing disability. She worked in her home country for nine years on a local sign language project run by a foreign university. However, when the project abruptly came to a stop, it left her unemployed. And while amid an unstable political situation that posed a…
A Migrant Factory Worker’s Struggle with Insurance Claims and Proper Reintegration
Ko Aung Min is a 52-year-old Myanmar national, graduated with a college degree, is married, and has two daughters. He aspired to work abroad to better provide for his family. In May 2001, with the help of his uncle, who served as his agent, he secured a single-entry visa for MYR 300,000 (US$ 92)…
A Migrant Farmer’s Struggle Against Wage Discrimination and Heightened Vulnerabilities
Vichea Long is a 45-year-old Cambodian with a blind eye and a fully amputated right arm, multiple disabilities that he acquired during his service as a Cambodian border police officer. Afterwards, regular employment options became scarcer. In the hopes of simply providing for his wife and small children…
A Migrant Domestic Worker’s Silent Struggle Against Maltreatment
Mathida Win is a 50-year-old Myanmar national who was born with a condition that caused her legs to develop unevenly. She had undergone multiple surgeries throughout her childhood and early adulthood to reinforce her bones. When she turned 40 years old, she was…
A Migrant Fisherman’s Journey Towards Freedom from Human Trafficking
Rathana Heng, a 51 year-old Cambodian has striven to provide for family despite acquiring his disability when he stepped on a landmine in 2003, amputating one foot in the process. Daily wages in his country then were as low as KHR 6,000 (US$ 1.50) a day, far insufficient to support his widowed…
A Migrant Worker’s Struggle with Workplace Insecurities, and Hidden Disabilities
Andi Prasetyo, a 35-year-old Indonesian, has been a migrant worker in Malaysia since 2010. He is currently living with his wife in Malaysia, while their children are in Indonesia. He was able to secure a work visa through his high school’s programme, and ever since, he has had…
A Migrant Worker’s Path to Independent Living
Lian Lek, a 32-year-old Myanmar national, contracted polio between the ages of 4 and 5 years old resulting in paralysis of both her legs and has since relied on other persons and assistive devices for mobility. When she learned of relatives living in Norway, she decided to continue…
A Migrant Farmer’s Struggle Against Unprotected Work and Debt Bondage
Sok Vannak, 30 years old, dreams of securing a dignified life for his wife and two children in Cambodia. Work opportunities were limited for him in Cambodia in his young adult years, as he never attended formal school. His chances of providing for his family further diminished when he got into a…
A Migrant Worker’s Struggle Against Double Discrimination – Statelessness and Disability
Ko Min Tun, a 38-year-old man, lived most of his life in Myanmar during a time of limited opportunity and political unrest. At the early age of 12, he was enlisted in the Myanmar army, and has skipped formal education ever since. After the conflict, like many migrant workers …
Miguel Rivera, a 49-year-old migrant worker from the Philippines, was born with an undiagnosed congenital cataract in his left eye, resulting in visual impairment. His career in the local fast food industry in the Philippines spanned 16 years, starting as a server and later gradually rising…
A Migrant Worker’s Journey Through Lack of Workplace Safety and Labor Protections
Channara Bun, a 33-year-old Cambodian, completed high school then decided to work abroad for better wages, knowing that degree holders in Cambodia do not earn enough locally. He took a Korean language exam in 2011 and migrated to the Republic of Korea in 2013, borrowing money from…
A Migrant Worker’s Silent Struggle: Disability Met with Indifference
Grace Chua is a 66-year-old Filipina who began her career abroad when she moved to Laos more than 25 years ago after experiencing marital problems that led to her separation from her husband. She entered the country on a tourist visa and explored opportunities…
Chanthy Rath, a 31-year-old Cambodian, now estranged from his wife and child after sustaining a life-altering injury while working in a construction site in Thailand. At the time of his interview, he needed the support of his sister to recall the events that led to his current status of unemployment…
A Migrant Worker’s Story of Being Trapped by a Contract: Fleeing from Exploitative Work Conditions
Sreyna Chan is a 35-year-old Cambodian national with a mobility impairment since she was nearly one year old. As the eldest, this did not stop her from providing for her seven siblings. However, living in Cambodia prevented her from being hired, as it denied her access…
A Migrant Worker’s Struggle to Break Barriers in the Fight for Fair Work
Ma Cing Ngaih Zam is a 39-year-old Myanmar national, experiences post-poliomobility limitations especially when walking up stairs and on uneven terrain. She can navigate independently on level ground, more so as she was shaped by the confidence and trust…
A Migrant Worker’s Story of Rights Violations, Return, and Pursuit of Redemption
Ko Kyaw Min, a 33-year-old Myanmar national, migrated to Malaysia legally in 2009 with the assistance of a recruiter from Myanmar, on the prospect of a better life for himself and his family. Upon arrival in Penang, Malaysia, he worked for an automobile manufacturing…
A Migrant Fisherman’s Struggle between Solitude and Socialization
Ko Hla Aung was only 15 years old when he migrated from Myanmar to Thailand in 2010. Like many young people from his country seeking to support their families, he took the journey without legal documents or a formal employment contract. He immediately found work as part of a fishing boat crew…
A Migrant Factory Worker’s Hopeful Rehabilitation Journey
Joy Torreno, from the Philippines, began working in a chocolate packaging factory in Kuwait on January 31, 2023. It was her first time working abroad, secured under a two-year contract. She continued to make voluntary contributions to Philippine government social protection programs…
A Migrant Teacher’s Story of Repatriation & Reintegration
How does it feel to wake up in a foreign hospital unable to speak or move? This was Aira’s reality after a ruptured brain aneurysm abroad. Her fight to rebuild her life, and navigate a broken system exposes deadly gaps in migrant worker protections.
A Migrant Teacher’s Journey Towards Inclusion
Could a routine medical exam derail your dream to teach abroad? For Tessa Albano, it did—her clubfoot earned her a “Not Fit to Work” verdict. See how she refused to let one verdict end her dream, securing a medical waiver that kept her journey alive.
Disability Migration Network (DMN) 