Epoch Times Staff
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With the release of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma (also known as Myanmar) is back in the spotlight, and the world is watching what will come next: greater openness from the ruling junta or more of the iron fist that the generals are better known for. Also watching closely are the ghosts of Burma’s past, sitting forgotten beyond the country’s borders in refugees camps in Thailand, some have spent more than 25 years there clinging to the simple hope of seeing their country free—and soon. (Click here to see the Photo Gallery )
Children in Mae La Camp. The vast majority of refugees in Thailand are from Burma, and are treated differently from other refugees. They are allowed to stay in the camps run by the Thai government. (©UNHCR/R. Arnold.)
After the Burmese military took control of Burma in a coup in 1962, they began a suppression campaign against local ethnic groups, pushing them to the edges of the country. Since 1975, Burmese refugees from the main ethnic groups—Karen, Kachin, and Shan—have been fleeing to Thailand to escape the violence. They took shelter in temporary settlements just across the border, and could often return home when the fighting subsided.In 1984, however, a major assault on Karen State sent some 10,000 refugees into Thailand, many have been there ever since—raising families, living in limbo, dependent on foreign aid.
By this time it was clear that the oppression in Burma was not going to end soon, so the Thai government consolidated the villages into refugee camps.
Today, nearly 150,000 people live in nine camps along the over 2,000-kilometer (1,250-mile) border with Burma. In the eyes of the Thai government, their residents are not “refugees” but “displaced people,” since Thailand does not recognize the legality of refugees.
This puts the refugees in a situation of suspended animation. Although they can stay for an unlimited time in the camps, they cannot obtain permanency in Thailand. Thailand only provides temporary shelter to the oppressed, acting as a buffer until they can be resettled to a third country with the help of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). This can take years and is a solution for some, but not all.
Tha Lai: Safe but a Hard Life
“I spent 15 years in the Mae La Oon camp, after being oppressed and discriminated against by the Burmese military,” said Tha Lai, a former Karen refugee, now living in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
With the help of an interpreter, Tha Lai shared his story over the phone.
“While I lived in Burma, I had a happy life with my family. In 1992, [the] Burmese military started demolishing and firing on villages; they went from one village to another, chasing people out of the village, firing on the houses, and killing people. They came to my village, so we had to run for our lives in order to survive. We didn’t have much rice and could not take anything with us, as the attack on the village was very sudden. I had to seek refugee status in Thailand, fearing that otherwise [the] Burmese military would arrest and kill me.”
Together with his wife and three small children, Tha Lai headed into the jungle, hoping to survive somehow. After three weeks without proper food and water, they reached the border where they joined other refugees.
Although safe, the camp was still a hard place to live. All refugees in the camp had to obey Thai laws and were not allowed to exit the camp.
“Many refugees tried to go outside of the camp to get money to live a better life, and then they were caught and imprisoned.”
Tha Lai says [the] Thai government allows refugees from Burma to stay on its territory, as long as they obey Thai law. But the intention of Thai authorities is that once Burma obtains democracy, they will send everyone back.
Tha Lai, now 60, was lucky enough to be resettled in the United States in Nov. 2009 with the help of the UNHCR. Although he is not sure he will go back to Burma, he has hopes that his children will have that chance one day.
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