Living in limbo
Since 1984 you’ve helped light the way for people living in camps on the Thai-Myanmar border. Melanie Hargreaves, Media and Communications Advisor for Christian Aid recently visited Mae La, one such camp.
Although after five decades, Myanmar is no longer under repressive military rule, 100,000 of the country’s people are still living in border camps.
‘I’ve been in the camps as long as I can remember’, says Dr Wado, 41.
Dr Wado is sitting just outside the Bible School where he is Principal. Chatter and laughter float through the air as students drift past on the way to their next lesson.
Lush greenery and picturesque mountains frame a community of modest bamboo-built homes. From first impressions, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s quite idyllic.
Yet the school is actually in Mae La — one of nine refugee camps on the Thai-Myanmar border, which together house more than 100,000 people forced to flee brutal violence and insecurity during 50 years of crushing military rule in Myanmar.
Mae La was established in 1984 after the fall of the headquarters of the Karen National Union, a political organisation representing the Karen minority, who form the country’s second-largest ethnic group. The camp is now home to 38,000 mostly Karen people.
‘My father was a freedom fighter, so life wasn’t easy, and we had to run away all the time’, says Dr Wado, explaining how he ended up there.
He fled with his family members, but without his parents, who remain in Myanmar. ‘The journey takes four or five days, and if there are landmines or military on the way, it can take a week to get here, so you just have to walk.’
Most refugees I speak to here say they feel safer here than they did in Myanmar. They have enough to eat and drink, and their children can go to school, yet they still have to live within the narrow confines of the camp.
In spite of this, Dr Wado remains incredibly positive. He even holds a doctorate after receiving funding that allowed him to study in the Philippines.
‘I like it here, I belong here. It’s not a choice, it’s a commitment’, he smiles.
The Border Consortium
Our partner The Border Consortium (TBC) has been supporting the people living in these camps since 1984 with much-needed food rations, hygiene products and training in practical job skills. TBC and other NGOs also help the refugees to manage the day-to-day running of the camps.
But now, following the landslide victory of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy in November 2015, things are starting to change in Myanmar. And so the authorities are starting to think about sending the refugees back — which is expected to be a lengthy, difficult and complicated process.
‘We’ve been praying for this war to be over for years. I want to see the return of refugees. I’m excited. But Aung San Suu Kyi needs to take her time also. You can’t rush these things’, says Dr Wado.
Ah Kol
Another camp resident, Ah Kol, is also starting to look to the future.
Ah fled the Myanmar militia’s barbaric regime with his wife and children in 1983, leaving the family’s carefully tended farm and paddy fields behind. He recently returned to visit his former village, but found things had moved on and his land taken over.
‘There are no more trees, and everywhere is farmland. Every area has new land owners’, says Ah, who works as a zone leader in the camp.
Preparing to return
TBC is now helping the camp’s residents to prepare for a future return, including giving them advice on dealing with conflicts over land.
Ah is taking part in some of the new training workshops on offer.
‘I’m doing leadership training, management training and child protection. Also, conflict solution training. For example, when we go back, we need to know how to work together - what will the issues be and how can we resolve them?’
As people start thinking about their return, many — including Ah and Dr Wado — feel optimistic. But Ah says he prefers to leave the camp only when the fighting has stopped.
‘I’ve been here for 32 years, I feel this is my village, but I know it’s not my country. I know one day I will go, but there’s not peace yet in Myanmar, so I’m waiting.’
For now, the residents of the camps remain in limbo.
‘If possible, sure, I will go back, and if there are no concerns for refugees, like the land issue or landmines’, says Ah.
‘At the moment, I can’t make any decisions. It’s very difficult to make decisions about the future.’
This Christmas, please help Christian Aid and our partners continue to light the way for some the 65 million people currently displaced in our world.
