UN fears more fires at Thai refugee camps after fatal blaze

Bangkok (Alliance News) - The United Nations refugee agency on Monday said it was concerned for the safety of refugees on the Thailand-Myanmar border, after fires broke out at two refugee camps.

An elderly woman died in one of the weekend's fires, which affected hundreds of people.

"We are deeply saddened by these tragedies," said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representative in Thailand, Mireille Girard.

"We fear that more fires could break out as we have not reached the peak of the dry season yet."

In March, more than 30 refugees died and 2,000 others were left without shelter by a blaze that ripped through another camp in northern Thailand.

Girard said fire prevention and response training was intensified after that, "but fires continue to happen and can be hard to control as the camps are densely populated and are surrounded by vast forests."

The causes of the latest fires are not yet known, and are being investigated by authorities.

About 850 refugees were directly affected, the UNHCR said. Together with aid agencies and local authorities, it is distributing essentials such as blankets, clothing, food and mosquito nets to those affected.

Around 130,000 Myanmar refugees, mainly from the Karen ethnic group, live in nine camps across the border in Thailand.

Education for all, even refugees

BY SYAHIRAH RASHID

DECEMBER 29, 2013

LATEST UPDATE: DECEMBER 29, 2013 

As 2013 draws to a close, Malaysia has seen its fair share of events with people who either inspire or bring despair to the country. It has been a year where some feel a sense of entitlement, that it is their way or the highway, that they have to make a name for themselves no matter what and where the little people's hopes have risen and have also been shattered. Yet, there are the few who do good work quietly to help their fellow man, to make Malaysia a better place. Over the next few days, The Malaysian Insider will feature some of them – Malaysia's Inspiring People 2013 – the ordinary heroes who never cease to amaze us with their perseverance, diligence, empathy and vision for a happier nation.

Deborah Henry says coming from a family with a background in education, she cannot allow the refugee children without access to education. - Pic by Mary O'Donovan, December 29, 2013.There are some people who fight red tape and try to cut it. And there are people who decide there must be a better way if the bureaucracy cannot be part of the solution. Deborah Priya Henry, holder of the Miss Universe Malaysia 2011 and Miss Malaysia World 2007 titles, is one of them.

It began with her chance encounter with four young refugee siblings from war-torn Somalia who were unable to go to school, no thanks to Malaysia not being a signatory of the United Nations' 1951 Refugee Convention, which mandates education for refugees.

So Henry roped in her friend Shikeen Halibullah, and they took over the task of teaching the four refugees.

Henry would soon discover that she could not walk away from the students, as more children pleaded to her to open a school.

"My mom is in education, my sister is in education. So, to me, there is no way that it is the 21st century when these children have no access to education.

"Someone needs to teach them how to write their name." she told The Malaysian Insider in Kuala Lumpur.

A view of a classroom at Fugee School, which is located somewhere in Selangor. - Pic by Mary O'Donovan, December 29, 2013.The private classes slowly evolved into an informal refugee school in May 2009, providing hope for 60 students, from pre-school age to those in their late teens.

Today, the school, called Fugee School and occupies a run-down apartment block somewhere in Selangor, with 110 students, all registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Henry said it was important to have the school near the community as most of them cannot afford to travel.

As a non-profit organisation, Fugee School relies on corporate donations and UNHCR grants, and charges a token RM5 monthly school fee on every student.

The school provides global education with a variety of subjects ranging from Somali to English and Mathematics, among other subjects, preparing students for resettlement in countries which are signatories to the refugee convention.

As part of the curriculum, students participate in many outdoor activities, helping them to boost their creativity and improve their public speaking skills.

Fugee School relies on corporate donations and UNHCR grants, and charges a monthy token fee of RM5. - Pic by Mary O'Donovan, December 29, 2013."The students have this thing called 'Insiders' where they talk about changing the world and they want to start within their community,” Henry said proudly, stressing that 'Insiders' was an initiative by the students themselves.

Said a former student of the school, "The school has changed the lives of the Somali refugees in Malaysia. Now we have a place to go to seek education as we cannot afford to go to a private school."

Unlike some of his friends who resettled in other countries, he decided to repay his community, and the school, by teaching English to his juniors.

Henry said seeing the development of the students, from being barely able to speak English to being able to speak in public, brought tears to her eyes.

"As much as their lives are tough here, the school has become important to many. It is a glimmer of hope and light." – December 29, 2013.

Little Myanmar in Malaysia

Jeff has a very simple food stall on a sidewalk right across the street from Pudu Plaza, together with his wife. Fried dishes, basically.

He is from Tanintharyi, one of the two southernmost divisions of Myanmar, where access for foreigners until recently was very restricted unless you paid a good deal of money. He is ethnically Burmese. I have known him for a few years now. He has a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) card, just like his wife.

He comes from a peasant background and used to live in a very small village, not far from the sea. He has shown me Internet snapshots of the incredibly beautiful and mostly unexplored beaches not far from his home. Tanintharyi is also dotted with islands along its long coast. Had it been anywhere else, it would have become a major tourist destination by now.

I have met before Myanmar refugees trying to make a living by running small food stalls. Of course, they invariably sublet from local restaurants. And in Jalan Alor, Bukit Bintang, where there is a good deal of bustle, such food stalls can be patronised by quite a few people.

In this case, I am told that the owners of the restaurants usually raise the rent as soon as they notice the stall holder has many clients. The problem is that then the stall holder often cannot make much of a profit as he or she usually caters to very low income customers, often from Myanmar itself.

At Jalan Alor, for instance, the food stalls run by Mon, Shan and other Myanmar ethnic groups usually offer a limited range of simple Myanmar fare at moderate prices. The food is not to my taste as the ingredients are obviously cheap and too much oil is used when cooking them. The taste is often too sour.

I do enjoy having Shan noodles, however, in Jalan Alor, in spite of their more than slightly sour taste. The stalls are interesting because they are an attempt on the part of Myanmar residents of Pudu and Bukit Bintang to break away from a circle of dependence on low-paid work.

A Shan friend - one of the largest Buddhist minorities in Myanmar - Roger, has attempted to run a food stall in Jalan Alor. He is from a small town next to the famous Inle Lake (a major tourist destination in the country). He came to grief.

He had two employees and five tables. He offered less than half a dozen dishes, however, one of them being the famous lepehthou salad, a Myanmar specialty, made of tealeaf and grains with oil and tomatoes added, as well as spices. It goes down very well with beer (Roger's business also offered two different kinds of beer).

The salad can also be bought at Myanmar shops (in the vicinity of Masjid India, for instance, there are some very big stores catering to Myanmar residents), including in the form of a packet to be prepared at home (you just have to add the oil and your favourite vegetables and mix everything).

A one-man show

The reason Roger came to grief was not his lack of success in attracting clients. It just did not pay to run his own business. For example, he had to buy pork in bulk, whereas he would only use comparatively small quantities. Storage was also a problem.

At the end of the day, there were so many issues that he simply gave up, and managed to be reinstated in his job as a waiter at a night venue in Bukit Bintang. Roger is now back in Myanmar running his own business in his hometown, catering to tourists.

Fred run his own food stall - a one-man show - for some time in Klang. He said however that as he was successful, locals simply pulled the carpet from under his feet. They managed to steal his clients, he told me.

My impression from talking to some people who tried to become small entrepreneurs - and sometimes succeeded in doing so - is that they work almost as hard or even harder than if they had remained as mere employees.

Also, the issue of ownership of their businesses is an open one. They cannot open a business on their own for lack of capital and lack of a proper permit.

I once met a Chinese Burmese who run a large shop in Pudu. He had good ties with the police, he told me. Some officers had in fact become his personal friends. He added that he had no complaints about Malaysia.

His clients are almost invariably other people from Myanmar (though usually not Chinese). His business is reasonably large and well-heeled. It is also well-located.

Meanwhile, Jeff's business in Pudu seems to be the exact opposite, though it is not located very far from the shop of his Chinese Burmese compatriot. Namely, it is very modestly funded, and I have no doubt that he makes little money out of it.

I can see his young, petite wife, is worried. She tells me they have been running the food stall now for three months. She entreats me to come back and have a meal. They did not seem to be busy at all.

Interestingly, the mix of clients in this case clearly includes locals. I find Jeff's business quite well located, even though it is modest, as it is next to Pudu Plaza and a busy intersection as well.

I find these men and women from Myanmar, perhaps not including the Chinese Burmese shop owner, quite admirable. They are running a business with little capital and a good deal of uncertainty, especially as they are invariably dependent on locals.

It is my impression that they cannot really compete with locals, even if they had wanted to (not even in the case of the Chinese Burmese). Instead, they cater mostly or even exclusively to the various Myanmar communities in town.

In this sense, both Pudu and Bukit Bintang are perhaps ideal areas to open a small business because of the very large number of Myanmar residents. People, of course, patronise businesses run by an ethnic group other than one's own.

I have seen therefore Chins becoming the main clients of a shop run by a Christian Karen; going to a karaoke venue with music in Burmese and English run by Burmese; eating at the Mon food stalls in Jalan Alor, etc.

Too working class

It is very interesting to think that all this bustling activity is mostly found in Kuala Lumpur. Malacca, for instance, seems to have only two Myanmar shops, one of them very small. Seremban, I am told, has none.

All of this goes under the radar as far as many Malaysians and foreigners are concerned, as the businesses are often very simple and therefore inconspicuous. They also usually cater only to people from Myanmar, though there are exceptions, as in the case of Fred's food stall in Klang and Roger's and his wife's in Pudu.

I have also discovered there are two Chin shops, both of them Mizo, in Pudu. One of them is simply called 'Mizo Dawr' (i.e., Mizo Shop). They seem to cater almost exclusively to Chins in general and Mizo (a sub-group within the larger group of Chins) in particular.

It is a pity many of the businesses cannot cater to locals and foreigners. The ambiance is too working class, for one thing, and far too male and young. Many people would no doubt feel put off by both facts. In the case of the Chin, women are not supposed to go to such shops except to buy something and leave quickly afterwards.

If they sit down, then they have to be with a close relative or their fiancé. Also, it is better that they do not drink any alcohol. Besides, they should never become regulars under pain of being talked about.

The result is that the shops, even when partly run or serviced by women, do not necessarily have a very pleasant ambiance, as there is an excess of testosterone in the air, so to speak. The women who work there must also be prepared to try and stop any fights that may break out (sic).

Interestingly, from what I have seen so far, women seem to have a good deal of clout in such situations, especially if they are outspoken and somewhat older than their often very young clients (the demographics of the various Myanmar communities in town is of course very skewed, with a preponderance of young males).

None of this of course happens in an ethnic enclave as such. Even the areas near Pudu Plaza where so many Chins live (the UNHCR office is nearby) cannot be called proper ethnic neighbourhoods (say, a Little Chin Hills). Locals still abound on the streets, though not inside some tenements.

It is therefore very intriguing to notice that, rather than a separate ethnoscape, the various Myanmar groups in town in fact weave themselves into the seamier parts of the urban fabric (especially as they hardly have any choice in this regard), without becoming largely separate communities as such.

They remain therefore at the end of the day part and parcel of Malaysia's complex cosmopolitan society, even though they are seldom acknowledged as such. - mkini

U.N. rights boss urges Thailand to drop defamation charges

GENEVA (Reuters) - The top U.N. human rights official urged Thailand on Thursday to drop criminal charges against two journalists accused of defamation for citing a Reuters investigation into the role of Thai naval security forces in smuggling Rohingya asylum seekers.

A Reuters investigation, based on interviews with people smugglers and more than two dozen survivors of boat voyages, revealed in July how some Thai naval security forces work systematically with smugglers to profit from the surge in Rohingya fleeing Myanmar to escape religious persecution.

Thailand's navy denied the Reuters report, which was published in July. Select portions of Reuters' report were later cited by Phuketwan, a small English-language newspaper based in Phuket.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay voiced concern on Thursday that two Phuket-based journalists, editor Alan Morison and reporter Chutima Sidasathian, have been charged with defamation and breaching the Computer Crimes Act for quoting the Reuters article.

"We urge the Government of Thailand to drop the charges against Mr. Morison and Ms. Sidasathian and to ensure the freedom of the press in the country," Pillay's spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement issued in Geneva.

Pillay's office in Bangkok has been in touch with the government about the case and the charges filed by the Royal Thai Navy, the spokeswoman told Reuters.

Criminal prosecution for defamation has a chilling effect on freedom of the press, the statement said.

"The criminal charges against Mr. Morison and Ms. Sidasathian could have serious implications on Phuketwan's future operations, possibly compromising its ability to report on issues related to Rohingya asylum seekers to the public," it said.

If convicted, the two journalists face up to two years' imprisonment on the criminal defamation charges and five years in prison for breaching the Computer Crimes Act, as well as fines of up to 100,000 Thai baht ($3,100), it added.

"We stand by our story," Reuters spokeswoman Barb Burg said of the news agency's original report. "It was fair and balanced, and we have not been accused of criminal libel."

The Rohingya are a stateless, mainly Muslim ethnic minority who the United Nations says are the victims of religious persecution in mostly Buddhist Myanmar, also known as Burma.

Earlier this month a Reuters investigation in three countries uncovered a clandestine policy to remove Rohingya refugees from Thailand's immigration detention centers and deliver them to human traffickers waiting at sea.

The Rohingya are then transported across southern Thailand and held hostage in a series of camps hidden near the border with Malaysia until relatives pay thousands of dollars to release them.

The United Nations and the United States promptly called for investigations into the latest findings.

Thailand will help the United Nations and United States with any investigation into the findings of the Reuters report that Thai immigration officials moved Myanmar refugees into human-trafficking rings, the prime minister has said.

A former Thai magazine editor was jailed for 10 years in January for insulting the royal family under the country's lese-majeste law, a sentence that drew condemnation from Pillay, international rights groups and the European Union.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Peter Graff)

Public urged to be aware of bogus Rela personnel

KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign workers are to beware of bogus People's Volunteer Corps (Rela) personnel conducting unauthorised raids and arrests in the city centre.

MCA Public Services and Complaints Bureau chairman Datuk Michael Chong had received complaints from local vendors and businessmen regarding phony Rela personnel dressed in normal attire arresting foreigners near their workplace.

The so called ‘Rela personnel’ and another unidentified individual, were caught on a closed-circuit-television (CCTV) recording on Dec 6, escorting a foreigner into a van in a supposed ‘arrest’.

These fake Rela officers would go around foreign worker hot spots like Complex Kotaraya and question them on their legitimacy in working here by asking for paperwork or permits.

If failed to comply would subject to an ‘arrest’. 

Michael spoke to Kuala Lumpur CID chief Datuk Ku Chin Wah and received information that the police have conducted sanctioned raids or Ops Sapu in the areas of Jalan Silang and Complex Kotaraya but had no help from Rela.

“We fully support the capture to decrease illegal workers in the city but it must be done by the right authority which is the police and not by phony Rela officers.

“Rela has no jurisdiction to conduct raids and arrest people, that is done solely by the police,” added Michael.

Foreign workers are urged to be vigilant and ask for identification if confronted by these suspicious individuals or call the Kuala Lumpur Rakan Cop Hotline 03-21159999 for more information.

A CCTV footage showing a man being escorted to a van by bogus Rela personnel. Pix by Asyraf Hamzah.

MCA Public Services and Complaints Bureau chairman Datuk Michael Chong (second from left) in a PC to address the arrest of foreign workers by a group of individuals masquerading as Rela personnel at Wisma MCA, Kuala Lumpur. Pix by Asyraf Hamzah

Brother and sister reunited after 8 years

Brent Linton

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Julie Say and her brother Mark Say were reunited on Christmas Eve at Thunder Bay International Airport. (Brent Linton)

Christmas arrived a day early for Julie Say of Thunder Bay who was reunited with her brother Mark Say after eight years.

The pair haven’t seen each other since Julie left Karen State (Burma) as a refugee. Karen State has been in a civil war for 60 years, with 100,000 people in refugee camps in Thailand.

Wahlay Ray, a settlement worker with the Thunder Bay Multicultural Association who works with an estimated 200 refugees from Burma annually, was a Burmese refugee himself.

“The civil war has been going on for over 60 years, and because of the ethnic conflict between ethnic groups and Burmese army, civilians left their hometowns because of the military offensive against the civilians,” said Ray.

“So many of the Karen people left their home and fled to Thailand to apply for refugee status, so there are nine refugee camps on the Thailand-Burma boarder with over 100,000 people in the camps . . . which have poor sanitary conditions and are surrounded by barbed wire.

“In 2005 and 2006, the international community started to pay attention to the situation in Burma, especially on the Thailand border, and this is why they began resettlement programs,’’ he said.

“So Canada is one of the countries welcoming the refugees from Burma.”

He said people come to Canada “for the sake of their children.’’

“They know it is hard to come to this country when the have no basic education, no language skills. They know it is tough.’’

Ray said the multicultural association arranges temporary accommodations for new arrivals and offers English as a second language classes, among other services.

“One of the hardest or most difficult things for people from Burma is the winter,’’ said Ray.

“It is really something for them. They find it very hard, especially when they don’t have transportation. They have to bike or find other means for the first few winters.

“Finding a job is also very hard because of the language barriers, but the good thing is that many of the Karen people who are here help them with job connections.”

Ray clarified how people from Burma want to be identified: “We have a big conflict in Burma and many ethnic groups do not want to be called Burmese because the government named the country after the name of the majority, Burma. It is a long, long, long story; we call ourselves the Karen.”

He said he landed his job with the multicultural association five years ater he arrived in Canada as a refugee.

“It was quite rewarding to work with your own people. You can relate to their experience.”

He said he was fortunate to have had a “welcoming host, Sleeping Giant sponsorship group, that was formed by members of the First Presbyterian Church.

“There are a few similarities between a Christmas here and in Burma,’’ said Ray.

“The place where I came from is like a jungle and mountainous area. We don’t celebrate Christmas as a family, but we celebrate as a community.”

“So it would take two or three days with all kinds of competitions like singing. On the last day we all go to church together.

“The villagers would cook the traditional curry chicken, pork and all kinds of wild animals. It’s a little bit different.”

Koeloe Lo spoke on behalf of Julie Say and said having brother Mark Say back in her life is like a Christmas present.

Mark and Julie have another brother who is still in Burma/Thailand due to the fact he recently married, which complicates the refugee immigration process.

Mark Say got a good first taste of Thunder Bay weather upon his arrival Tuesday at the local airport.

He will live with his sister for the time being.

Migrant workers, refugees and locals gather for Christmas

By CCTV correspondent Rian Maelzer

Christmas Day mass at the Catholic cathedral in Malaysia’s capital has brought together an unusual cross-section of worshippers from different classes, countries and cultures. For some people living far from home, the welcome comradeship of celebrating this day with those around them is mixed with the heartache of being far from their families.

There was an overflow crowd at Kuala Lumpur’s St. John’s cathedral, as local Catholics mingled with migrant workers, refugees and expatriates to hear mass. Year round, this is the favourite gathering point for the city’s migrant workers from the Philippines, most of them employed as maids. It’s a chance to meet friends and enjoy the tastes of home -- all the more poignant on Christmas Day.

“I have two children. I’m very sad but of course, I have no choice. Then enjoy, even though very far away.” said Anna V. De Villa, Filipina Migrant Worker.

“Without my family, it’s like they are all my family here. Sorry (starts to cry). I really miss my family, actually. I been eight years in Malaysia. I have never seen them for a while. I miss them.” said Elvira L. Torion, Filipina Migrant Worker.

“While Malaysia is a mostly Muslim country, about one in 10 Malaysians is Christian. And along with the major Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu festivals, Christmas is also celebrated as a national holiday here.” said Rian Maelzer, Kuala Lumpur.

About two thirds of Malaysia’s Christians are indigenous people in the states on the island of Borneo. Most Christians here in the peninsula are ethnic Chinese and Indians.

In a hall behind the Cathedral, another group of Catholics gather to give confession and hear mass in their own language. They are Christian refugees from minority ethnic groups in Myanmar.

“They run for their lives, you can say that. So we come to Malaysia, they work in the workplace all year, so Christmas they want to enjoy, they want to receive God. They want to meet with their friends. So Christmas is very important for us.” said Joseph Cha Ru, Myanmar Christian Refugee.

And like the Filipinos working here for so many years, the refugees say they too pray for the day when they may once again celebrate Christmas with their families in their homelands.

Migrant workers, refugees and locals gather for Christmas CCTV News - CNTV English

Migrant workers, refugees and locals gather for Christmas CCTV News - CNTV English

These Liberian and Myanmar refugees cook up old, and new, Christmas traditions

The US resettles over 50,000 refugees each year. Some celebrated Christmas before coming to the States, others didn't. But once they're here, Christmas becomes a time for family to come together because cities shut down and most people have the day off.

Many refugee families celebrate in their own way, with their own traditional foods — like 18-year-old Patience Wilson and her family. The family came to Oakland as Liberian refugees eight years ago. Wilson says she had a bit of culture shock when she saw how Christmas is celebrated in the US, with lots of decorations and even more lights.

“We were kind of surprised that they put a tree in their house for Christmas and they just put stuff on it,” Wilson says at her home in Oakland. “It was kind of cool, but it was kind of dirty because it was just all over the place, and every time, you have to sweep it and cut stuff off of it.”

In her Liberian refugee camp in the Ivory Coast, Wilson says Christmas was a time for the entire community to come together, not just family. It was one huge party and everybody was invited.

“You know how people go out for Halloween and get candy? For Christmas, we go out and knock on people’s doors and say, ‘Happy New Year’ or something like that and we get money.” At the end of the day, the whole neighborhood would gather to make music.

Wilson's grandfather, 74-year-old Robert, comes into the kitchen and sings one of those Liberian Christmas carols. He brought the family to Oakland when Wilson was 10 years old. She's now a senior in high school. Her grandparents left Liberia during one of the country's civil wars because Robert was from the Kranh ethnic group, and his wife was from the Grebo group — and the two factions were fighting. Wilson was raised in a Liberian community in an Ivory Coast refugee camp known as Peacetown. In the past decade, more than 600 Liberian refugees have resettled in California, and a few hundred now live in Oakland.

In Peacetown, they lived off food rations, but would trade with locals for luxuries like yams and plantains. Wilson says for the holidays, they'd go all out.

“We’d make fried rice. We called it 'jarov' rice,” says Wilson. "We fry chicken. We make a lot of different soups. There’s this rice, it’s kinda green, we call it 'chuck' rice."

Wilson says she'll be making one of the plantain dishes for Christmas dinner here, and begins to prepare it in her kitchen to demonstrate.

“There’s some [dishes] where it’s mashed up and it’s really spicy. Those were my favorite, but I don’t know how to make it. So I just make these ones where you just fry them.”

Wilson chops up the plantains, cooks them in hot oil, waits until they brown, then serves them to her grandfather to see if they're up to par. Robert takes a bite and proclaims loudly that they’re perfect, which makes Wilson smile.

Lauren Markham says food is a refugee's connection to the homeland. She works with refugees around the globe through a San Francisco-based group called Refugee Transitions. Markham says she is always offered food when she visits refugees in their homes, and she never refuses a bite — because food is a way to strengthen self-esteem, especially among newly-arrived refugee women. “Being in a place where you’re always the recipient of services, to be able to offer something to someone, and being able to offer a gift from your own heart, that you made, is a really powerful thing.”

Markham says families learn very quickly where to buy their cultural food. She says refugees are happy that the Oakland area has many ethnic food markets. “The families from Thailand can buy these certain ingredients from the Chinese markets in Chinatown. And the families from Iraq can go to the halal market on Telegraph.”

Markham often asks refugees for recipes, and she says they're always thrilled to share — it's a chance for them to reverse roles and be the teacher in a foreign land. That's what inspired Markham to make a refugee cookbook, called "Between Meals." It will be released in February, with most of the proceeds going to the refugee women in the Bay Area who contributed recipes.

Markham says refugees struggle to find the balance between retaining their own cultures and assimilating to those in the US. Take Christmas, for example.

“I’ve definitely been in families' homes who have little Christmas decorations and ornaments that they found, because I guess that ‘tis the season, and that’s what we do here,” Markham says, “just as it happens in the fashion that we wear, or learning English, or eating McDonalds — participating in other aspects of this culture.”

Twenty-one-year-old Cho Mei and her family have fully embraced Christmas. They're Karen refugees, an ethnic minority in Myanmar, a country also known as Burma. She says her family was Buddhist, but they would celebrate each year with their Christian neighbors in her refugee camp in Thailand.

“In Thailand, you [could] put a candle in front of your house, and people come sing in your house, and you can give like candy, a little bit gift,” Cho Mei says.

Cho Mei says her family fled Burma because many Karen people are tortured, raped and forced into labor by the Burmese government. They relocated to a refugee camp in Thailand that borders Burma. But once they got there, Cho Mei says they were practically treated like prisoners.

“When we lived in Thailand, you cannot go outside of your camp,” Cho Mei says. “If you go outside, if the Thai police catch you, they put you in the jail. That’s why we cannot go outside, we have to stay in our camp.”

After nine years in the refugee camp, Cho Mei's family relocated to a Burmese neighborhood in Oakland — 200 Burmese refugees have moved to the county in the past five years alone. Over 3,700 Burmese refugees have relocated to California in the past decade. A large number of Karen in Oakland are Christian. So Cho Mei's family soon adopted that religion as their own.

Cho Mei's mother, Naw Htoo, goes into the kitchen and boils water to prepare one of her holiday dishes — a traditional Karen soup with lemongrass, lime and chicken called 'Da Klah Chi'. Cho Mei's family still cooks Karen food on Christmas. Even though they've converted to Christianity, they still hold onto their Burmese heritage through food. Cho Mei says she goes Christmas caroling with her Karen church members in Oakland, but they sing in their own language

Cho Mei’s family bought their first Christmas tree this year and put a neon "Merry Christmas" sign on their wall. Patience Wilson, the Liberian refugee, is also buying her first Christmas tree with money she's saved from her after-school job. Both girls and their families will get December 25th off — and that's reason enough to celebrate.

Here's the chicken and lemongrass soup receipe made by Cho Mei’s mother, Naw Htoo, which will appear in the "Between Meals" cookbook. Other recipes come from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Liberia, Somalia, and various Burmese ethnic groups.

Ingredients for Burmese (Karen) Chicken Soup:

● 4 chicken breasts, cut into very small pieces and stir-fried in

● 2 T oil

● ¼ T turmeric

● ¼ T salt

● About 4 quarts water

● ½ T powdered chicken broth (bouillon)

● 1 14-oz can coconut milk

● 1 14-oz package dried yellow mung beans, rinsed 3 times in cold water

● 1 medium to large onion, cut into 8 pieces

● ½ T paprika

● 10 garlic cloves,

● 1 T salt

● 1 14-oz package of yellow Chinese noodles. (One brand is Sunlee. These are spaghetti-like wheat noodles with turmeric added for color.)

Toppings

● 2 limes, each cut into 8 pieces

● Small dish of red pepper flakes

● Half a bunch of fresh coriander leaves, washed and cut into small pieces with scissors

● 6 eggs, hard-boiled and peeled. (If more than 6 people will be served, make one egg for each)

● 3 small red onions, cut into small slivers; rinse in water; squeeze water out by hand

● About half a 7-oz package of shahe dried rice noodles (found in an Asian store; they’re about half-an-inch wide; use as much as you think guests will eat as a crispy topping for the noodle dish).

● 2-1/2 c oil

Cooking Instructions

● Put the hard-boiled eggs in water; cool, peel, and set aside for later.

● Stir-fry the small chicken pieces in oil with salt and turmeric.

● Stir-fry the chopped onion in oil with paprika.

● Fill a large pot with 4 quarts of water.

● Add the chicken broth powder and stir.

● Add the salt and stir.

● Add the coconut milk and stir.

● Add the mung beans and stir.

● Add the 10 garlic cloves and stir.

● Add the stir-fried onions and stir.

● Bring it to a boil over high heat. Lower to medium heat and cook about 30 minutes, until the mung beans are soft and losing their shape.

● In a different large pot, boil the yellow Chinese noodles in enough water to cover them; cook until they are soft/al dente. Drain.

● Meanwhile, in a wok or deep pan, heat 2-½ cups of oil on high heat. By the handful, drop in a batch of the dried rice noodles. (Be careful of splatters.) Stir constantly until crisp and beginning to brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and repeat until all have been fried. Put in a large bowl for the table.

● Prepare the toppings as described above while you wait for the noodles and sauce to finish. Put each topping in a separate dish for the table.

● Put noodles and sauce in separate large bowls on the table. Each person serves him/herself noodles and ladles sauce over them, then adds toppings as desired, including coriander, squeezed lime juice and crispy rice noodles.

Credit: Jennifer Martine

Lauren Markham (right) works with Refugee Transitions and is spearheading their upcoming cookbook. She says food is a powerful connection to a refugee's homeland.

Naw-Htoo-2.JPG

Cho Mei's mother, Naw Htoo, prepares a traditional Burmese soup using coconut milk, lemon grass and cilantro.

Violence in South Sudan

Press Statement 

John Kerry 

Secretary of State Washington, 

 

DC December 20, 2013 

 

The international community is laser-focused on the deeply alarming violence in South Sudan. We are all determined to continue standing for the aspirations of a people who have endured far too many years of conflict and sacrificed far too much to allow their young country to plunge back into turmoil. With the world watching and South Sudan’s people yearning for a country marked by peace and prosperity not conflict and division, peace is the only option. Last night, I called South Sudanese President Kiir and urged him, as president of all of South Sudan, to protect all South Sudanese citizens and work toward reconciliation. We recalled the difficult decisions that led to the remarkable moment when so many stood in long lines for a referendum to give birth to South Sudan, knowing all too well that the toughest decisions were still to come. Now is the time for leadership that makes those decisions through dialogue. Now is the time for South Sudan’s leaders to rein in armed groups under their control, immediately cease attacks on civilians, and end the chain of retributive violence between different ethnic and political groups. The violence must stop, the dialogue must intensify. To help facilitate this process, we have asked our U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, Ambassador Donald Booth, to travel to the region and support regional efforts already underway. He will be departing today. The United States strongly condemns yesterday’s attacks on the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) base in Akobo County in Jonglei State, South Sudan. We offer our condolences to the UN and victims of this attack. We call on all parties to respect UNMISS, to refrain from any attacks on its personnel, and to help facilitate its mission to protect civilians who have sought shelter from the turmoil secure the delivery of humanitarian assistance to all those in need. The United States and other partners are committed to the realization of South Sudan’s full political, social, and economic potential, but make no mistake: these cooperative efforts will be undermined if political disputes drag the country back into senseless conflict and strife. Moreover, any armed attack on the capital will be seen as an attempt to achieve an unlawful usurpation of power, which would be universally condemned. Those who seek to take or hold power by violence or division of South Sudanese along ethnic lines will not have our support. Violence today will not pave the way for a more stable or prosperous tomorrow.

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 19, 2013

Statement by the President on South Sudan

In 2011, millions of South Sudanese voted to forge a new nation, founded on the promise of a more peaceful and prosperous future for all of South Sudan’s people. In recent years, against great odds, South Sudan has made great progress toward breaking the cycle of violence that characterized much of its history.
Today, that future is at risk. South Sudan stands at the precipice. Recent fighting threatens to plunge South Sudan back into the dark days of its past.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. South Sudan has a choice. Its leaders can end the violence and work to resolve tensions peacefully and democratically. Fighting to settle political scores or to destabilize the government must stop immediately. Inflammatory rhetoric and targeted violence must cease. All sides must listen to the wise counsel of their neighbors, commit to dialogue and take immediate steps to urge calm and support reconciliation. South Sudan’s leaders must recognize that compromise with one’s political enemy is difficult; but recovering from unchecked violence and unleashed hatred will prove much harder.
Too much blood has been spilled and too many lives have been lost to allow South Sudan’s moment of hope and opportunity to slip from its grasp. Now is the time for South Sudan’s leaders to show courage and leadership, to reaffirm their commitment to peace, to unity, and to a better future for their people. The United States will remain a steady partner of the South Sudanese people as they seek the security and prosperity they deserve.

A Story Of Forced Migration From Burma

PHOTO BY MAUNG MAUNG TINN

Art is capable of a lot of things—including fulfilling a role of visual storytelling, of cultural expression, and serving as vehicle for political awareness. Mestizo Coffeehouse & Art Gallery, a multicultural touchstone in Salt Lake City, is exhibiting On the Border: A Story of Forced Migration from Burma, which features the watercolors of Maung Maung Tinn, a Burmese artist living near the border of Burma and Thailand, whose works depict the struggles of refugees fleeing torture and genocide by the Burmese military regime.

“Karen people are one of the eight indigenous groups in Burma being tortured and killed by the Burmese military regime,” notes Ler Wah of the Karen Community of Utah. As a result of the genocide, Karen fled to Thailand and settled in refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border. Many have lived there for 20 years or more, disconnected from the outside world for all those years; resources such as food, health care, education, employment and media have been limited. 

“Some of them resettled to [the] United States to start their new lives, but still, there are barriers such as language, transportation, access to public resources and familiarity with technological devices, such as phones,” Wah says.

Tinn has a very interesting attitude about the uses of art: “Media is very important to show situations to people. Art is one part of [the] media.” Oftentimes he paints from photographs, such as the poignant image of a mother holding a child, a rifle at her knee for protection (pictured). 

“I choose the photo [to paint] that can represent the situation of our lives, how we are suffering,” Tinn says. “My painting cannot tell everything. But something.”

“The art depicts the daily lives of the Karen people living at the border of Thailand and Burma, as well as in Burma,” observes Trinh Mai, associate professor of social work at the University of Utah. “They show families journeying to find safety, families seeking refuge from violence by living in a landfill, children at home in refugee camps. The paintings also show the strength, resilience and joy in people’s faces.”

The condition of life as a refugee is all too common across the globe, explains Rosemarie Hunter, special assistant to the president for Campus Community Partnerships at the University of Utah and director of University Neighborhood Partners, which helped coordinate the exhibit, along with the local Karen community and University of Utah faculty and students. 

“The art also depicts the journey and the history of the people of Burma now living in Salt Lake City and many cities across the world,” Hunter says. “Many communities of refugee and immigrant backgrounds share similar histories, and have impressed upon us the importance of telling their stories and of not forgetting the 10.3 million people around the world who continue to live in protracted refugee situations.”

For Mai, Mestizo was an obvious choice to host the show. “We chose Mestizo because it is a gallery that is committed to promoting art, community and social justice. These themes are important to this art exhibit and its creators.”

The exhibit is also an educational opportunity about a situation of which not many Americans are aware, says Yda Smith, director of graduate studies for the department of occupational therapy at the University of Utah. “The Karen people, along with other ethnic minorities in Burma, have been fighting against the Burmese military government to maintain their land and their ethnic traditions since the end of World War II,” Smith says. “They have suffered, and continue to suffer, from persecution, and the physical harm caused by landmines and other war atrocities. The Karen living in the refugee camps and those living as undocumented migrants in Thailand face an uncertain future and are trapped in a situation that makes it impossible to fulfill their aspirations for a good life in a peaceful community. This exhibit provides a glimpse of the reality of what is happening on the Thai-Burma border today.”

The exhibit is a fundraiser for the refugees living on the border and the local Karen community, and for a member of the Karen community to travel with a university group doing humanitarian/education work at the border. The opening included a Karen weaving demonstration and sale. Donations can be made to University Neighborhood Partners (1060 S. 900 West, Salt Lake City, 84104). To purchase weaving products, contact yda.smith@hsc.utah.edu.

The conditions at the border persist, but in the meantime, Tinn perseveres. “I still paint and write. Because the situation of my home, my country, has not really changed yet. I do hope my painting can tell something.”

ON THE BORDER: A STORY OF FORCED MIGRATION FROM BURMA 

Mestizo Coffeehouse & Art Gallery

641 W. North Temple, Suite 700

Through Jan. 11

Free

MestizoArts.server295.com

As donors focus on Myanmar, clinic for Burmese in Thailand faces funding pressures

In a 2010 file photo, a boy from Myanmar sits near slippers outside the Mae Tao Clinic in Mae Sot, in northwest Thailand. The clinic offers free medical care for people from Myanmar after the country's longstanding political crisis forced millions across the border in search of a better and safer life. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom

By Thin Lei Win

BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Like many organisations working with Burmese in Thailand, Mae Tao Clinicknew that the changing political situation in Myanmar would impact their donors’ decisions. Then came the first blow in July.

The Australian government - whose A$500,000 ($443,000) in annual assistance covers about 85 percent of the Mae Tao’s maternal health services, as well as its outpatient care and eye clinic - decided to stop funding beyond 2013.

Mae Tao asked Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to reconsider, but last month, heard back that the answer was still no.

After evaluating its programmes, DFAT decided that future support would “focus on preparing refugees to return home when conditions permit”, a DFAT spokesperson told Thomson Reuters Foundation by email.

The funding proposal by Mae Tao “did not align with the objectives of the new program and its services do not reach as many refugees as those of successful applicants”, the DFAT email said.

Australia’s decision highlights the predicament Burmese groups and organisations on the Thai side of the border are facing - as impoverished Myanmar opens up after half a century of brutal military rule and donors shift support to projects within the country or those that assist the 130,000 refugees along the border to return to Myanmar.

Mae Tao - which is located in Mae Sot in northwestern Thailand along the border with Myanmar and provides free healthcare to tens of thousands of Burmese every year - counters that it is too early for repatriation and the needs in the border areas are still too high. 

“The ceasefires and monitoring of the peace process have not been enforced. There is ongoing displacement and land confiscation. It’s not easy for people to go back home and rebuild their communities,” said Dr Cynthia Maung, founder of Mae Tao and winner of the 2002 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership, the region’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize.

NEEDS REMAIN IN THAILAND

Mae Tao was established in 1989 after Maung, an ethnic Karen, fled Myanmar following the military’s bloody crackdown on the 1988 pro-democracy uprising.

Starting with only four beds, it has grown into a full-fledged clinic with inpatient services, surgery and trauma care, dental care, vaccinations and HIV prevention. It also supports four small clinics inside Myanmar and is constructing new buildings in another new location. 

Last year, the main clinic in Mae Sot saw 73,000 patients - both Burmese migrant workers living in Thailand and people crossing from Myanmar, where the health infrastructure is poor. The clinic delivered an average of seven to 10 babies a day in 2012, on par with the Thai government-run Mae Sot hospital and twice as many as the Myanmar government hospital across the border.

Yet despite the recent changes in Myanmar, the clinic’s annual caseload has not decreased, said Maung.

Meanwhile, DFAT - which took over the functions of the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAid) in October - said the Australian government will provide $8 million over two years for aid agencies to provide food, shelter, healthcare, education and vocational training for refugees, but Mae Tao is not one of them.

The clinic is feeling similar pressures from other big donors, who mistakenly believe that Myanmar will be able to offer for its citizens the services that organisations like Mae Tao provide here in Thailand, says Yasmin Ahammad, fundraising and grants manager at Mae Tao.

“I think somehow there’s a lack of understanding of the role that Mae Tao clinic plays on the border, not just for Burmese migrant workers but for people inside Burma who still don’t have access to government health services,” she told Thomson Reuters Foundation in a phone interview.

“And there is a lack of understanding that health services won’t be ready to take on that caseload any time soon.”

Donors are looking at 2015 as a big year, with possible general elections in Myanmar, the beginning of regional integration efforts under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc and the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals, Ahammad said.

“Coincidentally that is when our main grants are expiring from our other government donors, so we’re a bit concerned about what our funds would be from 2015 onwards.”

MIGRANTS NEED SUPPORT

The border town of Mae Sot, where the clinic is located, is home to thousands of Burmese refugees who fled conflict and violence as well as to tens of thousands more migrant workers, many of whom are engaged in low-skilled, backbreaking jobs.

Some donors have made it clear that they are funding Mae Tao to support patients who come from Myanmar but not migrant workers, who are seen as economic migrants, even though it is difficult to know why exactly they left, Ahammad said.

“Mae Sot is becoming a special economic zone. It’s going to attract more migrant workers, and these people remain marginalised, so they won’t necessarily be earning proper salaries. They are vulnerable to exploitation, so we feel that we have to be here and that the Thai system won’t necessarily be able to absorb them,” she added.

In addition, the much-lauded reforms in Myanmar have yet to trickle down to ethnic areas, Maung said. 

“Government expenditure in health and education is still very low, compared to neighboring countries. Without addressing these issues and continuing monitoring of the reform process and displacement, there will be ongoing problems for our patients,” she said.

Fortunately for the clinic, three weeks ago a new donor - a private foundation - has stepped in to fill the substantial gap left by the Australian government.

Ethnic Karen refugees from Myanmar plan $2M church in north Omaha

Three-year-old Saw Khee La Htoo is among the singers during a Sunday service held by Karen Christian Revival Church, which meets at Mount View Presbyterian Church. The congregation of refugees from the country once known as Burma envisions building its own church, complete with classrooms, offices and a soccer field.

By Christopher Burbach / World-Herald staff writer

Ethnic Karen refugees from Myanmar are embarking on a $2.5 million project to build a church in Omaha, eight years after they began arriving in numbers from their war-torn country in Southeast Asia.

The Karen Christian Revival Church plans to build a church with classrooms, offices and a soccer field on long-neglected land in north Omaha, north of Sorensen Parkway at 49th Street.

Church leaders envision it as a big step forward not only in their church life, but also in their journey from civil war in Myanmar to years in refugee camps in Thailand, to self-sufficiency and full participation in American life.

“People have been coming to Omaha from Myanmar since 2005. We came here with just our backpacks,” said Po Hteh, a church elder. “Zero money. Zero knowledge. Zero English. But 100 percent faith.”

Karen people were one of several ethnic groups involved in decades-long civil strife with the government of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.

About 4,000 Karen refugees live in metropolitan Omaha, said Saw “Rocky” Khu, a community leader and an associate pastor of Karen Christian Revival Church.

Many were resettled directly to Omaha from refugee camps in Thailand, where some had lived for decades. Some were resettled to other cities first, then moved to Omaha for its jobs and affordable housing, and the support of the growing Karen community, Khu said.

Omaha now has one of the largest Karen populations in the United States, after Minnesota and New York.

In Omaha, Khu and others formed the Karen Christian Revival Church. It provides social services and education as well as religious services. It has grown to 860 members, including about 200 children in 270 families.

The majority of adults work as laborers at Cargill, Hormel, Tyson and other meatpacking plants. Others work in hotels and schools.

A few Karen families own businesses, including ethnic groceries and car repair shops. Khu and his relatives own a grocery store and Salween Thai, a popular Thai restaurant on Omaha's Northwest Radial.

To be sure, many former refugee families struggle financially and with adapting to American life.

But Khu said about 300 Karen families have bought homes in Omaha.

And they have donated enough to their church that it can afford this project.

The church paid $330,000 cash for the 12-acre parcel in a neighborhood that's a little bit of country smack in the middle of the city. Horses live on acreages, and school buses travel a gravel road en route to nearby Wakonda Elementary School.

The church has all its financing in place for the construction project, Brad Blakeman of Blakeman Engineering told the Omaha Planning Board this month.

He said church members hope to begin construction by spring 2014 and to move in by 2015.

In a wrinkle, the church's costs will probably include nearly a half-million dollars to improve a section of gravel road that somehow escaped pavement for decades, until a congregation of refugees came along to build a church beside it.

The congregation will also spend about $150,000 to extend a water main in the area.

People who build in-fill developments in Omaha neighborhoods with substandard infrastructure often bear the costs of improvements. The city requires that new developments bring the abutting streets and sidewalks up to city standards.

For Karen Christian Revival Church, that includes agreeing to pave about one-sixth mile of North 49th Street, The church agreed to do so as a condition of receiving a permit to conduct religious assembly on land zoned for residential use.

The Omaha Planning Board voted this month to approve the conditional use permit.

“When we heard we had to build that street, we thought it's not really fair,” Khu said. “But if we don't build that road, we can't have our church.”

And they are determined to have their church.

“We are building a strong foundation for the kids, for the sake of our future and to do something good for our city and country,” said Saw Ner Clay, another associate pastor.

The congregation has outgrown the space it shares with Mount View Presbyterian Church, 5308 Hartman Ave.

The new church would hold 600 people. Leaders wanted to build it large enough to hold 1,000 people, but the road construction cost is squeezing their budget and causing them to downsize the design, Khu said.

Church leaders want space for the church to grow beyond its ethnic beginnings.

“Anybody can come and join, not only Karen, but black, white, everyone,” Khu said.

Church leaders also want a place of their own to host community celebrations that attract thousands of people, such as Karen New Year and Karen Martyrs' Day.

A 2010 celebration attracted 40 soccer teams from the United States and Canada.

“We are crazy with soccer,” Ner Clay said.