#3 Thailand & Myanmar
Forced Displacements between Thailand & Myanmar
Some interviews
A general Overview
Asia Pacific Refugees Right Network​
APRRN is a regional network gathering about 300 organizations aiming at defending and integrating refugees by joint advocating, information sharing and capacity building mainly within the Asia Pacific region.​ The goal is to connect different stakeholders at local, regional and national levels.
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Click here for more information.
Contact : Julia Mayerhofer, Deputy Secretary General, Bangkok
Discover more and deeper...
(Interested ? Feel free to ask any question by contacting us)
BLACK SHEEP
(Focus on the Karen exile)
Ethnic Minorities Persecutions
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A brief history​
Let’s take a step back in time. When British colonialisation ended, in 1948, several ethnic minorities challenged the creation of a single Burmese state, and sought independence. Prolonged hostilities ensued between the Burmese military dictatorship (representing the official government) and numerous guerilla armies from various rebel ethnic groups.
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Five main armed groups in the Karen state, including the KNU (Karen National Union) and its national liberation army (KNLA), enlisted enormous numbers of villagers to fight for their rights and protect the Karen people from death threats, forced labour and all other forms of discrimination. When they were created in the 1980s, the camps in Thailand were supposed to be a temporary refuge, as is often the case, from violent ethnic repression by the Burmese dictatorship and from ongoing armed conflicts.
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The situation in the camps today
Thousands of Karen refugees have now been living in camps close to the border for over 30 years. Many of them were born here, and do not have a birth certificate or any ties with their country of origin, which they have never seen. Some have managed to get away to another country and/or are trying to help others to do likewise. Living conditions in the camps have changed a lot in 30 years, explains Poe Say, who lived there for seven years when he was a teenager: there are now mobile phones, exit permits, and assistance from NGOs.
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In 2012, most of the Karen rebel groups signed a cease-fire agreement with the government. Although its army is now dormant, Karen state is still governed autonomously, has its own ministers (in particular for education and health), and makes an almost unanimous call for Burma to become a federation of autonomous and officially recognised states.
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Despite the fact that access to the camps is strictly controlled and restricted (we had to abandon our plans to attend a wedding in Mae La, much to our disappointment), with very few exit passes to leave the Mae Sot area being issued, and that discrimination is still very frequent (higher prices for Burmese people, social rejection, etc.), the situation is slowly improving. This also stems from good coordination between the NGOs who collectively work here as the “Border Consortium”, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (HCR), the local authorities and the Thai Interior Ministry. Together, they distribute vital food supplies and provide healthcare, vocational training and education.
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In the past 30 years or so, other services have emerged within the camps to improve living conditions for residents to a certain extent: there are now information kiosks, newspapers and magazines written by camp residents, and even a recording studio in Mae La. Despite these efforts, there is still a lot left to do to achieve acceptable standards of living, and to draw the international community’s attention to the plight of hundreds of thousands of Karen people who are too often forgotten.
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Education within the camps has made good progress and it is hoped that the diplomas which have been awarded will soon be recognised by the Thai government. The “migrant schools” are private establishments run by Burmese, foreign and/or religious organisations, which rely on help from volunteers, public funding (especially from the European Union) and private donations.
We are in Mae Sot, a small town in northern Thailand, close to the border, with a population of 130,000 people. In addition to being one of the four land entry points into Myanmar (Burma), Mae Sot also harbours the largest of nine refugee camps in Thailand: Mae La. Around 45,000 people live here, most of whom are of Karen origin, the second largest ethnic minority in Myanmar. We were lucky enough to live with a Karen family in Mae Sot for a short period, and they treated us like princesses. We then crossed the border on foot via the renowned “Friendship Bridge” which links Mae Sot to its Burmese counterpart Myawaddy. This crossing is not always very easy, since the bridge cannot open if military operations by Karen armed groups are underway in Myanmar.
Although the “democratic” transition since 2012 has only been partially successful, recent efforts by the Burmese government following decades of military dictatorship have kindled many hopes on the other side of the border. In October 2016, the HCR started a voluntary repatriation programme: around sixty Karen refugees agreed to return to their native province to start a new life. The announcement of this first round of repatriations, which are on a voluntary basis for the time being, did not however have the desired effect. What are the main obstacles for refugees returning home?
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“On average, a refugee is in exile for 17 years” (UNHCR, 2015).
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There are many factors: security risks, the potentially fragile cease-fire, the thousands of landmines which still litter the ground in Myanmar, and fears that they will lose their UN refugee status (which ensures that they receive basic healthcare and emergency aid, especially food; they would not otherwise receive this aid since Thailand did not sign the 1951 Geneva Convention and does not recognise refugee status).
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But the biggest obstacle for refugees returning home is time itself: many of them were born in the camps, and others have been living there for over twenty years. What now remains of the country they once knew? What has become of their native villages? Many villages were burned and completely destroyed by the Burmese government during the 1990s and 2000s to quell riots among rural populations and group them together in new, single-community towns where the army could keep them under almost constant control. Because they have grown up in the camps, thousands of refugees have their sights set on Thailand rather than Burma. They hope to obtain a temporary residence permit authorising them to work in Thailand, which continues to attract thousands of migrant workers from all over South East Asia every year.
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Their future will therefore be in either Thailand or Myanmar, and the largest aid organisations are split into two groups, on each side of the border. These organisations assess and prepare the groundwork for returning refugees, helping them to resettle and especially to find employment. They carry out negotiations with the Burmese government and the rebel groups who signed the cease-fire (mostly represented by the KNU) so that skills and qualifications acquired by refugees within camp schools, universities and charities are accepted and recognised.
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Step by step, things are changing, but there is still a long way to go !
