Ad Hoc and Inadequate

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I am not allowed to go outside the camp. There is no job, no work.

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So much stress and depression. I feel that I am going to go crazy here. Meanwhile, many older people have lived in the camps for so long that they can hardly remember their homeland anymore. Thailand, in recent years, has made it no secret that they want to close the camps, causing growing concerns among the refugee population who do not feel safe to return. Children playing in Mae La Oon refugee camp, three hour drive from across the mountains from the town of Mae Sariang, Thailand.

When the first refugees arrived in , no one could have ever predicted that only would they still be there 30 years on. Majority of the refugees in the camps are Karen The government policy of Four Cuts, and what has been described as the slow genocide of ethnic peoples La Guardia, June, , resulted in the widespread destruction of communities and the decline of traditional cultures.

Thousands of villages, especially in the Karen and Karenni States, were burned to the ground, including houses, religious buildings, schools, belongings, and sometimes even domestic animals. In many areas, it became the norm for the villagers to live in a constant fear of the Burmese military coming to their village, terrorising the villagers, stealing their food, forcing villagers to become porters and mine sweepers, raping ethnic women, and torturing and killing anyone suspected of having a connection the ethnic armed opposition. Whilst some villagers endured the abuse by developing warning systems and repeatedly fleeing to the jungle, others, who had heard about Thailand, decided to leave their village for good.

Others still had no choice as their village was already in ashes on the ground. Until , refugees on the Thailand-Burma border lived in village-type settlements and were allowed to travel outside the camps to get food and shelter materials. Camp life changed dramatically in after the DKBA attacks; the village-type settlements were merged into large, sprawling camps that became increasingly dependent on outside aid as residents became more and more restricted on space and movement TBC, Refugees still frequently break the rules of confinement and as a consequence, are often detained and occasionally deported e.

There are even reports of refugees been found killed outside the camp fences under mysterious circumstances see e. Human Rights Watch, e, pp. Refugees have no means of seeking redress; similarly to Burmese authorities in their home country, Thai officials often seem to enjoy total impunity see Human Rights Watch, e. Throughout the s, s, and s, more refugees kept pouring across the border to Thailand. Alongside the growing need, a humanitarian and human rights network grew along the border.

One of the organisations to respond to the crisis is The Border Consortium TBC , which remains the main agency organising food and other aid to the refugees.

Posters encouraging refugees to register their baby in Mae La camp. Food rations are distributed only to those who show up in person to receive their supplies. As nearly , have been resettled to third countries, current numbers do not represent the overall population that has fled to the camps over the years. In the camps, refugees have limited educational and training opportunities and no official means of earning an income. While education in the camps is far better than any education available to civilians inside Burma, there are limited opportunities for higher education, which also largely remains unrecognised outside the camps.

Karen and other ethnic peoples of Burma traditionally place a very high value on education and many have crossed the border to Thailand in order to go to a camp school. Although the majority of the camp populations have arrived as a family unit TBC, b , many parents also send their children to attend schools in refugee camps across the Thai border KHRG, We could only stay in the forest and we had to flee away when the SPDC came or patrolled around our area, so we decided it was better to go to the refugee camp.

With more than 40, residents, Mae La is the biggest of the refugee camps on the Thailand-Burma border. Due to its size and easily accessibly location, Mae La is considered a centre of study for refugees. In total, as of July there were 2, boarding house students in the camps TBC, a.

Many other students also stay with their relatives in the camps. The issue for many young students is what happens after they finish a post-ten school, the highest level of education available in most of the camps. There are only a handful of schools on the Thailand-Burma border where these young students can apply for, leaving thousands of talented and dedicated aspiring university students with no means to educate themselves. School in Umpiem Mai refugee camp. Many people of Burma cross the border to Thailand for their children to get the opportunity to attend schools.

Refugee Camps

Many schools, especially in the less remote camps in Tak Province, have foreign teachers and volunteers, majority of whom stay illegally in the camps as permits remain largely unattainable. These foreigners teach refugees English and other subjects while hiding from Thai authorities, risking fines or even deportation.

After the Thai junta took over power in May , however, it has become increasingly difficult to enter and stay in the camps without a permit. Educational opportunities also vary greatly from one camp to the next. In the more remote camps such as Mae La Oon in Mae Hong Son Province and Ban Don Yang in Kanchanaburi Province, situation is dire as education remains largely unattainable, and higher education institutions are far away out of reach.

As these opportunities are only available to a few students each year, thousands of capable young adults are left with no means to pursue their dream of higher education. Many young people are determined to help their people and their country, but with no place to go for study, they often end up opening a shop or becoming a nurse or a teacher in the camp. Some leave to find factory work in Bangkok or elsewhere in Thailand while many others turn to drugs and alcohol, or even commit suicide, as they see their dreams crushed before them. Having lived in a place where freedom of movement as well as self-expression is severely restricted, many young refugees feel scared about leaving the refugee camps even to pursue higher education in other camps on the border.

Most have heard stories about the police check points and intimidation by Thai authorities that sometimes takes place even when refugees have managed to obtain travel documents Human Rights Watch, e. Others have already experienced being thrown to a detention centre and are reluctant to take the risk of leaving the camps. Camp residents live in bamboo houses as they are not allowed to use permanent building materials. The United Nations Convention lays down basic minimum standards for the treatment of refugees, including access to the courts, to primary education, and to work UNHCR, The Convention defines a refugee as a person who:.

Thailand is not a party to the Convention or its Protocol. The Burmese government has also consistently denied having any problems associated with refugees. In , the government published a highly controversial statement:. The armed insurrection groups also have come back into the legal fold and there is peace in the country. Human Rights Watch, e, p. Although UNHCR normally promotes three durable solutions for refugees; repatriation to their home countries, local integration in the host country, or resettlement to third countries, none of these solutions were available in Thailand until TBC, b , twenty years after the first refugees had arrived from Burma.

Thai authorities allowed refugees to register with the UNHCR periodically during and , and since , all registered refugees have been eligible for resettlement to third countries. Departures for resettlement have declined each year since , mainly because the majority of those who were able to register in and have already left. The group settlement program to the US has now closed, but a significant number remain in the pipeline and are expected to depart in TBC, a. Of the current camp residents, Refugees also have numerous concerns regarding resettlement that often lead to eligible refugees staying in the camps.

One of the common issues is the inability to organise family reunions when resettled refugees have children that are over the age of Those who have been resettled often have done so in order to provide for their families and relatives in the camps. Refugees typically maintain close links with the camps and frequently send money to their loved ones. Human Rights Watch adds: As a result of inadequate protection of refugees, as well as the highly restricted life in the camps, thousands live in the country as illegal aliens for more information, see In Exile Outside the Camps. Many Burman nationals who have fled their home country, including most former forcibly conscripted child soldiers in the Burma army, also remain outside the refugee camps because they fear they may be ostracised by the refugee population who has fled Burmese military most of whom are Burman abuses and who are usually of a different ethnicity.

Many Burman refugees in the camps talk about problems of discrimination, exclusion, and suspicions of being government spies, often leading them to depart the camps in the end. Other camp residents, who speak Burmese, have also faced similar problems as they have been mistaken for being Burman. Refugees belonging to minority groups, however, say that the situation has improved in recent years and refugees are mostly not afraid to speak Burmese anymore. Due to the refugees in the camps being forced to be nearly completely dependent on outside help for food, shelter, protection and other basic needs, their coping mechanisms have been severely eroded.

Travel and work restrictions have had adverse psychological and social effects on the refugees, decreasing their self-sufficiency, camp morale and mental health TBC, b. I can commute only in the camp. The camp is surrounded by barbed wire. If we go outside of the camp, Thai police will arrest us.

In the long run, it affects not only my physical but also my mental health. Halting long-term sustainability prospects in the camps has also created a climate where refugees tend to think only short-term, from one ration to another. Some refugees have adapted this form of thinking already back in Burma where many were forced to flee Burma Army attacks from one hiding site to another. When the refugees will eventually return to Burma, many of them will need assistance not only in skills to sustain themselves but also in changing their thinking from short-term survival to long-term development.

But Thai authorities rarely use government funds to deport people to countries that do not border Thailand, holding them indefinitely until their relatives provide plane tickets. Migrants without financial resources or refugees unwilling to return home because they fear persecution can spend a long time — sometimes years — in Immigration Detention Centers, even though they are not designed for long-term detention. The Bible talks about hell. This is one part of hell…. I am with 80 people in the room, sometimes people, three toilets.

Always there are problems…. We have no telephone…to get outside information. Thailand should make refugee status open to all nationalities under the same criteria, consistent with the international refugee definition, including protection for people fleeing conflict. And Thailand should immediately release UNHCR-recognized refugees from detention and stop holding detainees indefinitely to force their families to pay for their deportation. International agencies and donors should continue to provide food and other humanitarian aid to refugees who are unable to support themselves or who need transitional help toward self-sufficiency.

Thai authorities should immediately ensure that all refugees — including those in camps — have full access to the Thai justice system and that police and other security officials who extort and abuse refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants are disciplined or prosecuted. Skip to main content. Help us continue to fight human rights abuses. Please give now to support our work. Your tax deductible gift can help stop human rights violations and save lives around the world.

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