Report on trip to Thai-Burma border, January 2009

Transcription

1 Projects to Support Refugees from Burma Report on trip to Thai-Burma border, January 2009 Sally Steen and her husband Edward visited two refugee camps on the Thai- Burma border between January 6 22, 2009 to oversee the progress of PSRB projects, and to assess how to proceed in view of large-scale resettlement of refugees in third countries. BURMESE SITUATION IN 2008: A BRIEF OVERVIEW The "Saffron Revolution" against the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in September 2007, led by thousands of Burmese monks, sparked renewed hopes of change; it ended, as so often before, with the military junta consolidating its stranglehold. Nominally Buddhist indeed fervently so - the SPDC had no compunction in including many religious people in the mass arrests, beatings, and non-judicial killings and disappearances. The harshness of the crackdown was clearly intended to remove any remaining opposition to the "seven-step road to democracy", the last stage of which had been the sham referendum on a new constitution on May 10 th 08. Many voters had not even seen this document. Most in any event had other things on their minds, such as finding food, water, and shelter after the devastation of Cyclone Nargis, which struck only a week earlier, on May 2. The 10ft tidal surge, and 200 kmh winds, devastated the Irrawaddy Delta and destroyed the homes of 800,000 people. The SPDC brazenly announced a 99.07% turnout for the poll, and a 92.4% 'yes' vote; 47 townships, too badly hit by the cyclone to allow for ballot boxes, voted on May 24; they too returned a remarkable 92.4% 'yes'. The new constitution, skewed to keep the army in power indefinitely, and excluding (since she was married to a foreigner) the leader of the opposition, National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, is to be the basis of the 2010 elections. The cyclone and its aftermath have swollen the significant but not-officiallyacknowledged exodus into the camps on the Thai border. The Delta's population is largely Karen (which helps explain the SPDC's reluctance to allow in emergency aid) and till now has produced most of the rice consumed in Burma. Some 6m people are hungry at the time of writing, and shortages have been aggravated by a plague of bamboo rats in Chin State which ravage the harvests, and by soaring food prices. However, the British ambassador to Burma, Mark Canning, is not alone in arguing that, despite the destruction and the death of some 150,000 people, and aid being initially stopped or rejected, some good may come out of the good work currently being carried out in the Irrawaddy Delta area has. He believes

2 this augurs well for better dialogue and cooperation between the SPDC, Asean, and UN in the future. But at a formal political level there is no progress, nor even moves towards some sort of dialogue between government and opposition, and the number of political prisoners has doubled to around 2,000. Peaceful demonstrators have been given decades-long sentences, and internet access locked down. Entreaties from abroad to encourage talks with the NLD and the ethnic nationalities, or to free political prisoners notably Aung San Suu Kyi, now in her 14th year of incarceration have fallen on deaf ears. A European Parliament resolution of October 2008 noted, all too accurately, that "37 visits by the UN special envoy over the past 20 years have not secured a single reform." Thailand then is likely to remain a haven both for refugees and some 2m migrant workers (the categories are often indistinguishable). At a time of economic recession, and a Moslem insurgency in the south, this is contributing to considerable social and political turbulence. No doubt worried about provoking another coup by annoying the army, the Thai government tried to cover-up or explain away the brutal treatment by the Thai navy of the Rohingya boat people trying to escape Burma, a scandal exposed in early Hundreds had been pushed back out to sea in boats without engines and little food or water. But even this is unlikely to stem the tide of refugees, and in 2008 the rainy season offered no relief from SPDC military offensives against the Karen and Karenni. THE CAMPS AND THE RESETTLEMENT ISSUE There are severe restrictions on who can or cannot apply for resettlement. Not every refugee in the Thai-Burma border camps has a right to resettlement, which is restricted to those refugees registered no later than 2004/5 by the UNHCR and the Thai government at that time a total of 137,889 people. But there have been many arrivals since then, most genuine asylum seekers, a minority of opportunists (including some already settled in Thailand) hoping to get to the West or Australia. All in all the total has risen by 17,000, according to the Thai-Burma Border Consortium (TBBC) of 11 NGOs which organizes food and supplies for the camps. Formal approval by the Thai government for refugees to apply for resettlement was granted in Since then the USA has taken 70% of the 28,904 who have left the nine camps along the Thai-Burma border. Residents of Mae La (the largest) began to leave in the second half of 2007 and continued through the first half of Up in Mae Hong Son the Karenni are only beginning to leave now. Overall some 17,000 are expected to be resettled in 2009, the majority from the

3 two Karenni Camps, with an official population of 23,647. Those who leave will inevitably include many, perhaps most of the younger, most competent, Englishspeaking people who currently play such a vital role in running the camps efficiently. Most of the resettled Burmese are Karen. Hardworking and honest, they have set up effective support networks in their communities, and the continuing exodus from the camps is encouraged by their broadly favourable reports back. But some older people have been put off by news of how tough (and cold) life can be in rustbelt areas like Minnesota, especially during an economic slump, and some have dropped off the list of those wishing to be resettled. No doubt the fact that they must eventually pay back their fares and moving costs also plays a part. It is the big question with which the TBBC and the Karen and Karenni Refugee Committees are now wresting. These organisations have been justly proud of the way that the camps are run in collaboration with refugees themselves, the socalled Community-Based Organisations (CBOs). Resettlement programme will leave a worrying vacuum in camp organization, education, and health services. There is no obvious way of filling it. Meanwhile, the trickle of refugees continues, but the Thai authorities will not permit the new arrivals to be recognised, nor to work or grow anything in the camps, nor to be provided for out of the TBBC's budget. In 2009 TBBC has a total of 25m which works out at a 0.49 Eurocents per (official) refugee per day, which buys, monthly, 15kg rice, 330gm salt, 1kg oil, 0.25kg fortified flour, 40gm chillies, 125gm sugar, and 0.75kg fish paste, and blankets, mosquito nets, and bamboo for building and fuel. WHAT NEXT? The TBBC's five-year plan for the camps encourages resettlement and reducing the number of camps. It hopes at the same time to persuade Bangkok to permit training of those who are left so that they can find work locally and become selfreliant; it foresees retaining "a place of safety" for new arrivals. Eventually, the plan is for the Thai government to take over responsibility for health and education in the camps, and for refugee to be gradually integrated into normal rural life on the border. This sounds practical as long as there is no cataclysm in Burma, but depends on both the agreement and the stability of the Thai government, and neither can be taken for granted. Meanwhile, as noted above, some of the most talented and educated refugees are leaving. NGOs are training others, but they in turn are likely to go, and other gaps are being filled by unregistered workers arriving from Burma. Lacking a resolution of the Burmese political situation it seems unlikely that the camps will empty any time soon. However unwelcome to the Bangkok government, many of the 500,000 Internally Displaced Person (IDPs) in Eastern Burma, and the estimated 200,000 refugees living illegally outside the camps in Thailand, may well fill the places of those who leave for America and Australia.

4 Mae Hong Son January 8-12 Karenni Student Union (KSU) The KSU has been funded by the PSRB for the past nine years, proving effective in helping the most impoverished students in Karenni Camps I and II to buy candles so that they can study in the evenings, and other small necessities. It has also provided an effective framework for mutual support for students and their families. This could prove especially useful in the uncertain times to come. The Thai military have essentially withdrawn from day-to-day running of the camp, leaving this to the Karenni refugees themselves, and there are now many US officials working on the resettlement process and interviewing people; the atmosphere in the camp is much more hopeful than in the past. The refugees have been cooped up for years in the camps, and not seen TV or been allowed out, so there is great excitement about moving to a new life. Rumours abound, some for example that by 2010 everyone in Camp I will have started a new life. Some 14,000 people in Camp I have applied to be resettled, though it was said a minority have changed their minds after hearing news about the effects of the economic slump in America. Only about 500 people from Camp I have left so far, in part because of delays caused by the standoff at Bangkok Airport in the autumn. But KSU has already started appointing replacements from among people who are not eligible for resettlement. The question is whether the KSU can or should be supported for more than another year? The Catholic NGO COERR is likely to fill part, or possibly all, of the gap in terms of buying candles and so on. But, as indicated above, the KSU does have a broader raison-d etre. One element of this is the need for information, for which there seems little resource on the part of other NGOs or the countries where refugees are being resettled. The camp has no Internet access, and we saw people climbing ladders and steep hills to get mobile phone signals. One young man engaged to a girl already in Canada said: I am always out of breath when I talk to her. The KSU provides useful advice and training for those who are leaving, including from those who have left; it is also seen as a bridge to returning home one day, if and when the situation in Burma changes.

5 Neh Paul, KSU Secretary, conveyed his thanks for all the years of support, and a plea to continue, at least for the time being. KSU received 4,274 from or via PSRB in Donation of 87 The Ethnic Migrant Family Association Migrants in Thailand usually do the ill-paid 3rd work - difficult, dangerous, and dirty. Saw Maung Maung, who works full-time at the above organisation, told me last year that elderly people often have little or nothing on which to live when they become too old to work. They cannot go home and receive no pensions from the Thai government. Saw Maung Maung himself had been housing some very old people, providing giving them with blankets and clothes from his own pocket. This year 45 of these elderly people, often worse-off than people in the camps, have received PSRB support to pay for basic necessities. PSRB raised 3,003 for this project in 2008 Bible College Camp 11 (10-11/01) The turning off the fine tarmac road from Mae Hong Son took us into the jungle on a potholed track that, after more than two hours of bumping along and splashing through rivers, took us to a warm if officially-unauthorised welcome at this remote camp. About 4,000 people live here. The six staff and 24 students of the Bible College have been supported by PSRB for the last seven years; it has not been possible to visit for the last five, as security has been very tight. There is not Internet connection, and mobile phones do not function. Resettlement was the topic on everyone s lips. Last year some Bible College graduates had left and sent back money; so far 170 people from this camp have gone to Australia and four to Norway.

6 Bible College students regularly do pastoral visits to the sick, and hold Christmas celebrations for the over 70 s. They also run youth clubs and children events. The view of those running the Bible College was that they should continue as long as the camp remains. And if the camp is closed? I asked. Then, they said, they planned to move the Bible College inside Burma, or hope that a local Thai Church will allow them to set up within their land. A member of the Committee said the UNHCR had agreed to help transporting equipment. They are currently having talks with Burmese Christians and also with Thai Christians about their options. The College still has an office in Mae Hong Son, although they have been having problems staffing it and finding refugees with the papers needed to go between the office and the camp. PSRB raised 3,443 for the Bible College in Donation of 218 Help 4 Forgotten Allies The Bible College in Camp II knew in advance about our interest in elderly exservicemen and widows from WWII and some had been brought to the College to meet us. Another, now over 90, sent a message from inside Karenni State that he did not understand why his 40-a-year grant had been stopped with no explanation; he sent his medal for exceptional gallantry to prove his authenticity. 415 donated to ex-servicemen and widows in Camp II Mae Sot January Mae La Refugee Camp Mae La camp, c. 40 miles from the border town of Mae Sot, has an official population (Jan 09) of 37,000, making it the largest on the border. Over Mae Sot s Friendship Bridge comes a steady stream of migrant workers, and over the porous border nearby many refugees from, mostly, Karen State. The official population is certainly an under-estimate. Those who are not officially registered are ineligible to apply for resettlement in the West, though many hope this will change this make for a constant pull-factor. Care Villa PSRB has helped support the work of Care Villa since Most of the 23 landmine victims living here are deprived of their sight and mobility. On our visit this year we learned that one former resident had already left for the USA and another (photo) was due to go, but other landmine victims were scheduled to arrive and take their much-prized places.

7 They love to sing and Jim Andrews, the journalist who was with us, wrote an article about them for The Irrawaddy ( We were shown the new dining room, kitchens, and bedrooms which PSRB had helped to fund. Conditions had improved a great deal. PSRB donated 1,213 to Care Villa in Donation of 329 Second World War ex-servicemen and their widows 15 elderly men and six women, all in their 80s and 90 s came to Care Villa to meet Edward and myself and two journalists interested in their story. The men had all fought on the side of the Allies against the Japanese, and the women were widows of soldiers who had done the same. Since 2000 they had received a grant of about 67 each year from the British Commonwealth Ex-Services League (RCEL). The reason for withdrawing the money see the newspaper articles cited below is apparently that there are more urgent calls on the funds. The old soldiers and widows have relied on this tiny annual grant for extra medicines, vitamins, toothpaste, and clothes, indeed any small extras apart from the monotonous diet of rice, beans, and fish paste they receive in the camp; they have no other income.

8 I had met my first Karen veteran in Sangklaburi, Thailand in 2000 Saw Joshu - who was in great difficulties financially and with his state of health. I asked what I could do for him. "I'd like you to inform my officers" he said. In London I went to the RCEL, and subsequently around 1200 Karen and Karenni veterans from the Burma campaign began receiving c. 60 pounds a year. I was taken aback, and disappointed, to discover that the RCEL has decided (without warning or explanation) to discontinue these small contributions on which the c 130 surviving Karen and Karenni refugees and their widows had come to rely. These soldiers were among Britain's most loyal allies, valiantly supporting such legendary wartime figures as Major Hugh Seagrim. Many of those still alive served with Force 136, the Chindits, and the Spider Group and have extraordinary stories to tell. British officers were instructed by the war-time Churchill government to promise an independent Karen state after independence. As is well-known, these promises were never kept, and between Burma's Independence in 1948 and 2000 (when the small grants began) they received nothing at all in recognition of their sacrifice. It seems to me simply a betrayal. Two journalists thought so too. The following article appeared in the London Independent: And this in the Irrawaddy, based in Chiang Mai: The campaign we have now helped to launch, Help 4 Forgotten Allies, will try to replace or if possible improve on the grants which have been stopped. PSRB donated 1,048 to old soldiers in Mae La, Sangklaburim and Kanchanaburi. and a further 1,309 TB in bought food Emmanuel School The 129 pupils of Emmanuel Church School lined our passage to the Church. There was much laughter, and after everyone was seated (the church doubles as a hall for the school) we were treated to an entertainment programme of Christian songs and dancing, which was enjoyed by all. By coincidence Jim Andrews, the journalist who was with us, had been a pupil of Bristol Grammar School, which had generously donated enough money to run the school in He advised the children that if they forgot everything he said, just to remember to "keep travelling, in

9 your minds and in your hearts." We had brought a DVD player and a copy of David Attenborough s Planet Earth, so that they could see the wisdom of this, and glimpse the beauty and richness of the world beyond the camp. Emmanuel School s pupils are mainly drawn from the influx of refugees following the military offensives against the Karen. Formerly an Anglican Sunday school, it expanded into a general primary school because all the schools in the camp became so stretched. Many have lost teachers to the resettlement programme whom they cannot replace. This, thanks in part to PSRB funding since 2006, has not been the case at Emmanuel School, which has six teachers. But their task can be difficult; many of the children, aged 4 to 14, are newly-arrived and any one class may contain children of a variety of ages. Their education in Burma has often been inadequate or non-existent, the parents frequently illiterate and not always good at encouraging them to do homework. The school has a new roof, a gift from Femmes d Europe in Brussels, and there is progressively new and better school furniture. Textbooks and teacher-training are funded by the Dutch NGO ZOA. We agreed that since our first visit in 2007 the school seemed far better organised, effective and confident. The headmaster of the school and the vicar of Emmanuel Church asked us to pass on their warm greetings and thanks to PSRB s donors. PSRB donated 4,194 in Donation of 877 plus 65 for a DVD machine purchased in Mae Sot. Chiang Mae The Free Burma Rangers Chiang Mai is headquarters to many of the NGOs involved with the Burma issue, and somewhere we almost always visit to maintain friendships and keep up to date. PSRB has long supported the Free Burma Rangers, founded in They have now trained over 40 teams of young people from the ethnic nationalities to work in areas of Karen and Karenni States suffering Burmese army incursions. Some 500,000 people there are internally-displaced, hiding from the army in the jungles. The Rangers take in medical supplies, vitamins, and other essentials on their backs. They must cross the border illegally from Thailand, and are in constant danger from of landmines or of being shot at if they are seen. No humanitarian assistance is officially going to the people they are helping, who are in great need. PSRB donated 1,000 to FBR in Donation of 153