UNHCR – Straight-Talking on Refugees

Mr. Iain Hall, the senior field coordinator for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees based in the Thai border town of Mae Sot gave an exclusive interview to Karen News.

In the exclusive interview, Mr Hall covers a wide range of issues affecting refugees including repatriation, international humanitarian guidelines, the Burmese government’s responsibilities to protect its citizens and the UHNGR’s working relation with the Thai government on refugees issues.

What does voluntary repatriation mean?

“The word ‘voluntary’ is in the title meaning that return must be of a voluntary nature of the refugees themselves, as an individual decision. So voluntary repatriation is the voluntary return home to their place of origin inside Myanmar or, as Myanmar citizen, the place of their choice.

Voluntary is the most important principle on the concept. Providing information to refugees will help them in making a well-informed decision, and this is crucial. Because there are always pressures in life, it is important that refugee make well-informed decisions based on accurate information, not inaccurate propaganda, then we feel that refugees are able to make their voluntary decision themselves – and not having others making decisions for them.

What are the guidelines?

“Voluntary repatriation is what we call a durable solution, while there may be other solutions that a refugee may find in the future. Another would be a local integration in the country of asylum on a legal basis; or another solution may be resettlement to a third country. In Thailand there has been a very large resettlement of the Myanmar refugees to date, more than 90,000 since 2006.

The guidelines for voluntary repatriation talk about the humanitarian principles associated with refugees return to their country of origin. The first principle being voluntary. Other principles include that their return will be conducted in safety and with dignity. Safety of course will be the assurances that on the route back home and in areas of return are safe. Sustainable return is not possible if armed conflict in that specific area of return is taking place. They are not going to have to cross minefields to get back to the place of their choosing. So that’s the safety element. Then of course there is the dignity. The dignity because when people go back they are citizens of their country and they should be afforded all the rights of a normal citizen, in this case as Myanmar citizens. So they should be able to have access to all normal services that one would expect in one’s country – we call that, if you will, national protection. So for example, they will be able to access documentation, health and education services. And that they are not seen as another level of society but as part of normal society. So dignity is a most important thing.

Need various players to take their responsibilities seriously? 

“Yes, yes. Well of course the Myanmar Government (the country of origin in any conflict situation where we have a refugee out flux). The country of origin, in this case Myanmar, has the primary, responsibility of the protection of its citizens and indeed all civilians on its territory. Just as I and you enjoy the protection of the Royal Thai Government for our safety and security. They [Myanmar Government] hold a responsibility … the primary responsibility. So ensuring the conditions for sustainable return will be the Myanmar Government. But of course they may need support.

“Well founded principles since the creation and the mandate of UNHCR and the Statute of the Office, and international refugee law and the 1951 Refugee Convention. So those principles are enshrined within that international refugee law.”

Situation in Thailand right now – it has stressed it will follow international guidelines. 

“Yes you know the international community, certainly UNHCR, the NGO’s, the refugee committees, the CBO’s, and the donor community, have all been working with the Royal Thai Government for 30 years now. RTG has been protecting and assisting refugees during this 30 years and they continue to do that today until their solution can be found, including if that solution is a voluntary return, if its staying within Thailand, or if its resettlement to a third country. Now that is not a new discussion. The discussion on return has taken place over the the last few years. Because of the changes taking place inside Myanmar As we saw in 2010 and the movement towards a civilian-led government. 2011, with President Thein Sein in power. 2012 we saw temporary ceasefires with main non-state actors, the conflict with the government, the KNU, the KNPP and others. There have been 12 temporary ceasefires signed in the last two years. Other reforms taking place inside the country democratic reform, social and economic reform. Those are the signs that allow people to talk about the possibility of return including the refugees themselves. When I arrived here in 2012, there was a discussion then within the humanitarian community, but not between the two governments, mostly within the humanitarian community about hopes and preparedness for voluntary return. That was like the discussions in 2004 when there was also hope; but of course it didn’t take place. But now in the last few years there has been lot of discussion within the humanitarian community about so called preparedness for return. And most recently we have seen from a meeting between the Royal Thai Government and the Government of Myanmar a discussion about the future return of refugees back home.” 

There is nothing untoward with Thailand’s position? 

“Not at all. I think we have all been assured and reassured again. Assured for many years and reassured very recently by the Royal Thai Government. Last week RTG, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, put out a press release assuring that refugee return would be in-line with the humanitarian principles, and under the international standards.” 

Do conditions exist now for a return? 

“Conditions for return very much depend on a number of factors such as the first one the voluntary decision to return. So for some, refugees as individuals, may believe the conditions are right for them and are fine for return. We have seen several thousand refugees start to go home. Not very announced, not organised (self-assisted), but they have said for them the conditions are right for return. But for the large majority they may not feel that the time is right. Now for UNHCR when we talk about a return there can be several types of return. There can be a return that could take place spontaneously, the refugees themselves go home without seeking any support to do so. They may not seek assistance from UNHCR or from the humanitarian community. Often they go unannounced and are self-assisted. And then there is a return where people may need support and where UNHCR and other organizations can help that return. For example for transportation, for documentation, for assistance back home with the various types of support that they may need. That environment, at the moment we feel may not be there for UNHCR to promote and organize a return. To have a plan and an organised approach to return. Because we don’t see that the refugees themselves are ready for it. There are some key factors. There is not yet peace, only a temporary ceasefire but negotiations are ongoing on for a permanent ceasefire. That could be a major milestone (a permanent ceasefire) and then there is the rebuilding of refugees’ confidence because we know there’s a lack of confidence in the peace process and uncertain futures. So those conditions would have to be pretty much there for UNHCR to organize and then promote a return of refugees. Return is not UNHCR saying “it is time to go”… we are saying that if you want to go because it is your individual decision, if it’s time for you to go, then we’d like to help you.” 

There is talk of secret deals, of collusion. 

“Yeah, lots of talk, lots of bad press and irresponsible speculation about that. Well, we have this speculation about secret deals and secret planning for the last couple of years and we have been very open and transparent about that at UNHCR as there are no secret deals, there has been no secret planning or decisions. Certainly UNHCR is not sitting down with governments pouring over documents and dates and routes and things like that. We don’t because that’s not the time. It’s not the time for that level of operational planning. And any planning in the context of an organized return – which we are not yet ready to do – would be done in consultation with the refugee community itself. And the last few years we have developed a wide consultation and coordination forum, around preparedness for return which allows all humanitarians to ensure that the concerns and the participation of refugees in any return plan is fully reflected.” 

What’s next?

“What’s next? Well, you know, what’s always next for UNHCR is to try to find the way to help refugees to find a durable solution for them; whatever that solution may be. Some may like to go home. And they may need help as that will be their solution. Some may like to go home but may feel they cannot go. We have to look at those and see how we can help. Together with the RTG and other governments on resettlement as some are still in process and some still want too … and are eligible for resettlement. That program continues – and as I mentioned, more than 90,000 to-date. But the group (large-scale) resettlement has come to an end. But individual resettlement continues. So for us, what next is a continuation of the discussion, certain conditions we cannot put in place, UNHCR cannot put in place, a nationwide ceasefire, UNHCR cannot rebuild every school and health post in the areas of origin and return. So there are a lot of actors that need to do a lot of work to prepare for those types of conditions to make voluntary return conducive as opposed to a pressurized return.”

UNHCR primary concern is the welfare of refugees?

“UNHCR’s primary concern has, and always will be, first and foremost the individual protection and the individual rights of human beings, the rights of refugees, as citizens of Myanmar and, at the moment, under the protection of the country of asylum, which is Thailand. That would be our principle concern, and our ongoing concern would be that those conditions that created the influx, the flight to Thailand as refugees, that those conditions and those issues are resolved. So that people can and are able to make decisions about their future.”

Source : Karen News

Thailand arrests 53 Rohingya migrants–official

BANGKOK–Thai authorities on Saturday arrested 53 Rohingya migrants and two suspected Thai traffickers en route to neighboring Malaysia, an official said.

The migrants were found on a rubber plantation in Takua Pa district in the southern coastal province of Phang Nga, district chief Manit Phianthong told AFP.

“We got a tip-off from an informant that a trafficking gang would be transporting Rohingya people to Malaysia,” he said, adding that the migrants came from Myanmar’s western Rakhine state and Bangladesh.

Thousands of Rohingya — a Muslim minority group not recognized as citizens in Myanmar — have fled deadly communal unrest in Rakhine since 2012, mostly heading for Malaysia.

The migrants arrested Saturday were ferried onto the Thai mainland from a small island in the Andaman Sea, Manit said, adding that one of the arrested traffickers confessed he was part of a bigger gang.

“We are still looking for the real masterminds,” said the official.

Twelve Rohingya migrants are thought to have escaped during the raid, he added.

Myanmar views its population of roughly 800,000 Rohingya — described by the United Nations as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world — as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, and denies them citizenship.

They face travel restrictions, forced labor and limited access to healthcare and education.

Around 300,000 Rohingya have over the years gone to live in Bangladesh, which recognizes only a small portion as refugees and regularly turns back those trying to cross the border.

Rights groups say the stateless migrants often fall into the hands of unscrupulous people traffickers.

They have also criticized Thailand in the past for pushing boats of Rohingya entering Thai waters back out to sea and holding migrants in overcrowded facilities.

Thailand said last year it was investigating allegations that some army officials in the kingdom were involved in the trafficking of Rohingya

Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net

Charlotte Hornets GM fled with his family from Burma in 1968

CHARLOTTE — Rich Cho blamed it on a cold, but emotion led him to call Linda Hartke up to the podium Tuesday morning.

Cho, general manager of the Charlotte Hornets, asked Hartke to read portions of a 1968 letter his father had written from Rangoon, Burma, to a couple in Indiana, thanking them for their offer to take the Cho family in as refugees.

At the time, Cho’s father was a newspaper journalist in Burma while a military junta was taking over the Southeast Asian country. Many families who voiced political beliefs counter to the coup d’etat were disappearing or being placed in jails.

Alan Cho’s newspaper also was critical of the new regime, and he was seeing many of his colleagues detained and tortured.

Rich Cho was almost 3 years old when that letter was written. His father told the Indiana couple they were one of only two families out of many others he had written to in the States who had offered to take his family in.

“We are deeply grateful to you both,” he said.

As Hartke finished reading those words and left Cho by himself again at the podium, the humble Hornets general manager still could not continue. He said, “Thanks,” to the audience and returned to his seat.

It was maybe an abrupt ending, but recognizing the sacrifices his parents, Alan and Shirley Cho, had made for their young family and the achievements Rich Cho has attained today — again, you understand.

The Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service honored Cho Tuesday morning at a Walk of Courage Award breakfast held on the 30th floor offices of the McGuire Woods law office.

In June, Cho traveled to Baltimore, where LIRS is based, to receive the Walk of Courage Award. Tuesday’s breakfast gave his adopted Charlotte and Lutheran Services Carolinas, headquartered in Salisbury, a chance to celebrate the award with Cho.

Several residents of Trinity Oaks, a LSC community in Salisbury, also made the trip to be at the breakfast.

Cho is the first Asian American to be a general manager in any of the major sports leagues in the United States.

Hartke, president and chief executive officer of LIRS, said the Walk of Courage Award recognizes a person’s flight as a refugee and honors his or her entrepreneurial spirit, the commitment to giving back, the love of family and the embracing of a new country.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, which has helped more than 500,000 migrants and refugees find new lives in the United States. It started with the cataclysmic events connected to World War II, as people were fleeing the horrors of Adolf Hitler.

Those early Lutheran refugees 75 years ago were resented and feared, said Hartke, president and chief executive officer of LIRS.

“That pattern happens again and again,” she added.

Over the decades that followed, Lutheran churches and families began to serve refugees and migrants of all faiths who were leaving places such as Burma, Vietnam, Bosnia, Liberia, Ukraine, Haiti, Somalia, Iraq, Congo and Afghanistan.

With each wave of newcomers to America, Hartke said, the country has grown stronger. She credited Lutheran Services Carolinas for helping 322 refugees relocate to the United States in the past year alone.

They have come from Iraq, Afghanistan and Bhutan, she said, predicting a new wave will soon be coming from Syria.

Hartke said all of these newcomers will have an “amazing impact” for the better on schools, the workplace and giving back with their time and talents, much like Cho.

Ted Goins, president and chief executive officer of Lutheran Services Carolinas, said the child and family services side of his agency is probably best known for its support of refugees.

Since 2008, LSC has worked with 875 Burmese refugees alone. People come to the United States to flee persecution, find safety and secure freedom, Goins said.

Cho’s parents attended college in the United States — his father at Kalamazoo College; his mom, Indiana University — before returning to Burma to fulfill a required five years of work with the government to pay for their education.

At the time they had to flee Burma, Cho’s grandfather was minister of education for the overthrown government. The Cho family — Rich was 3 years old by the time they reached the United States — wound up in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Shirley Cho had reached out to a teacher she had lived with while she was in college. The woman’s church sponsored the Cho family, and the congregation helped the couple with transportation to the United States, housing, a car, kitchen supplies and clothing for the five children they brought with them.

The Burmese government had allowed the Chos to leave with only $200 and a small suitcase of clothes.

After several years in Indiana, the Chos moved to Federal Way, Wash. Alan Cho supported his family by working as a night-shift manager at a 7-Eleven.

Rich Cho earned a mechanical engineering degree at Washington State University, then worked for Boeing for five years.

His father died of a heart attack in 1995, the same year Rich Cho decided to pursue a passion for basketball. While enrolled at Pepperdine Law School, he also was an intern for the Seattle Supersonics.

As an intern, Cho teamed with two Microsoft programmers to design and implement one of the National Basketball Association’s most advanced college and professional player evaluation systems. It integrated player statistics, scouting notes and contract details.

The Supersonics hired Cho as their director of basketball affairs after he finished law school, then promoted him to assistant general manager in 2000.

When the team moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City in 2008, Cho moved with them. In 2010, the Portland Trail Blazers hired Cho as their general manager, but he was fired after his first year and immediately hired by the Charlotte Hornets (then the Charlotte Bobcats) as general manager in 2011.

Cho said he has made three trips back to Burma, beginning with a trip with his mother and brothers in 2004 to reconnect with family.

In 2013, he returned to Burma and, with the help of the National Basketball Association and the U.S. State Department, conducted basketball clinics. He went back to Burma this summer.

Meanwhile, the 48-year-old Cho is a mentor to Asian American law students and an advisor to the board of directors of the USA Myanmar Chamber of Commerce.

“Rich has demonstrated remarkable courage and achievement,” Hartke said.

She presented Cho with citations from the mayors of Charlotte and Baltimore recognizing his leadership and inspiration to others. Cho and his wife, Julie, have two young daughters.

Cho said he often is asked how he reached this point in his life. He credited being at the right place at the right time, while having the chance to learn “from a lot of great people.”

Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263, or mark.wineka@salisburypost.com.

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Classes, homework and working with refugees

Typically, a college student’s schedule is packed with classes, homework and maybe a job or two. For some, working with refugees is also on the list.

There are nearly 300,000 refugees and 90,000 asylum-seekers currently residing in the U.S., according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

A refugee is someone who has been forced to leave their country due to persecution, war and/or violence, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement.

At the University of Vermont the student-run group DREAM works with local refugee children as they get acclimated to life in the United States. The group meets Fridays to host activities such as zip lining and college prep.

The majority of refugees resettled to Vermont are from the Kenya-Somalia area. Others include Vietnamese, Bosnians, Sudanese, Bhutanese, Burmese, Iraqis and more, according to theVermont Refugee Resettlement Program.

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Kaitlyn Lapan and her DREAM mentee Isha Ibrahim.

Founded in 1999 by Dartmouth College students, the DREAM Program, Inc. pairs college students with youth from “affordable housing neighborhoods,” like refugees, according to their website.

The program now works with 13 colleges throughout Vermont and Massachusetts.

UVM senior Ben DeCarlo, a DREAM co-chair, said his experience with the program has been “nothing short of amazing.”

“It’s extremely rewarding to know that they look up to us as role models,” the 21-year-old said. “Knowing I have an impact on kids’ lives motivates me to be a better person.”

DeCarlo said he was drawn to the program by an innate desire to help the less fortunate.

“College is a privilege that a lot of individuals aren’t able to obtain,” he said. “College students can lead these individuals in the right direction and give them the support they need to continue their education.”

DREAM Mentor and UVM senior Kaitlyn Lapan started as a mentee in the program at age nine after moving to a local affordable housing complex because her family could no longer afford their previous home.

With her two brothers by her side, Lapan stuck with the program until she aged-out at 18. She said her experience with various mentors pushed her to start “seriously thinking” about attending college.

“Throughout different stages of my life DREAM offered me different things, like helping me get into college. The founder of DREAM brought me to Boston and took me on college trips,” Lapan said. “Now, every summer they do a college road trip with the teens in the program.”

But being a college student can be hard enough without extracurriculars like DREAM to add to the schedule. But Lapan calls herself a mentor first.

“I’d let my school work falter before I let my DREAM stuff falter, which is sometimes reflected in my grades. But it’s worth it to me,” she said.

Pablo Bose, assistant professor of geography at UVM, is studying the Vermont refugee population and said that it’s “really important” for college students to work with these groups.

“There are multiple ways for students to get involved. There are programs like DREAM and opportunities working with particular professors,” he said.

Close by UVM, the Saint Michael’s College the on-campus volunteer organization, MOVE, also pairs college students with local children in an attempt to give back to their community and help refugee students with things like homework.

Like Vermont, the greater Buffalo, New York area has a large refugee population, said Laura Rao, coordinator for the service-learning center at Buffalo State College.

At BSC, students and faculty are taking strides to help support this emerging population of nearly 2,000 individuals resettled each year in the area, Rao said. Some countries represented are Burma, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia.

“Interacting with people of different backgrounds is very important,” Rao said. “It’s like studying abroad but in our own backyard.”

“It allowed me to immerse myself in a community that I wasn’t part of before,” said Katie Silvestri, a Buffalo State student, who works with refugee youth through the Aaron Podolefsky AmeriCorps Fellows Program. “One comes face-to-face with divergent beliefs, ideals and ways of life.”

“Hearing these personal stories of what they endure are so meaningful,” Rao continues. “To be trusted with someone’s story is very meaningful and very difficult for them to share. They’re so brave.”

For the past five years, service learning students from Daemen College, a liberal arts school in Amherst, New York have worked one-on-one or in small groups with adult refugees in the area to develop their English language skills.

Close by in Utica, New York, refugees from 31 countries have been relocated to the 60,000-person town in the past 30 years, according to the Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees.

Through a program called SHINE, students at Hamilton College are working with this population through a service-learning program.

While students provide beneficial services to refugees in the area, many find they equally learn from those they teach.

“SHINE was an incredible way for me to give back to our community while learning about different cultures,” Hamilton senior Hillary Kolodner said.

Chris Willemsen, associate director of the public affairs center at Hamilton, said it’s “very important” for students to make such contributions with this “resilient” refugee population.

“It’s beneficial for both,” she said. “It’s an extraordinary opportunity to learn about each other and it gives a lot of hope. It’s very eye-opening.”

By: Taylor Feuss

Activists hopeful on Thailand’s detention of migrant children

Women hide their faces as children sleep after being detained at a rubber plantation in Hat Yai district of Songkhla province southern Thailand earlier this year. Pic: AP.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) may have released a pointed critique of Thailand’s child migrant detention practices last week, but the author of that report has since followed up with far more diplomatic statements about how the Southeast Asian nation’s government can move forward on the issue.

“We are encouraged that the Thai government has engaged with us in a dialogue on how to improve the situation for migrant children in detention,” Alice Farmer, a children’s rights researcher for the NGO who interviewed 41 young migrants for her report, tells Asian Correspondent. She adds: “This is an excellent time for the government to build toward fundamental change. The government should immediately end immigration detention of children, and in the interim period, vastly improve its conditions of detention.”

But not everyone shares her optimism, especially after HRW made Farmer’s findings public on Sept. 2. Her report outlined how Thailand annually detains 100 children who arrive as relatives of migrant workers or refugees from Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Sri Lanka and other nearby countries. Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs countered with the following statement:

Detention of some small number of migrant children in Thailand is not a result of the government’s policies but rather the preference of the migrant parents themselves. The Thai government is trying its best to address and accommodate the needs of migrant children bearing in mind the humanitarian consideration and fundamental human rights.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to Asian Correspondent’s repeated interview requests before presstime.

Adisorn Kerdmongkol, a research and policy officer for a local NGO called Migrant Working Group, said the government’s public response is troubling.

“From that statement, It can be seen that protecting these migrant children is not a high priority for them,” Kerdmongkol, told Asian Correspondent, adding: “The government’s statement does not focus on the impact that would result from children being detained in these centres, both physically and mentally. And there are no clear guidelines about how it plans to proceed.”

Skeptics may believe that the government’s future plans will be of no benefit to these marginalised youth, especially because accusations of other human rights violations — such as press and free speech crackdowns — have abounded since the current junta took power in a military coup on May 22. But Jeffrey Labovitz, head of the International Organization of Migration (IOM) in Thailand, says there have been signs of progress in the government’s child migrant practices.

“One Stop Service Centres (OSSC’s), with offices in each province, have provided temporary registration to over a million previously undocumented migrants,” Labovitz — whose branch of the IOM released its own report about Thailand’s transients in 2011— says, adding that after applicants finish at those service centres their “country of origin needs to verify their nationality, and then the documentation will be completed in a final process.”

Kerdmongkol agreed that these registration efforts have the potential to help many young migrants, before pointing out their major flaws: “For the children that are able to be registered, their legal statuses and other rights are protected. But many children are not able to be registered because their parent’s Thai employers do not assist with the process. It is also frequently unclear how the migrants’ country of origin can prove their nationality.”

While these and other government missteps may leave many migrant children in limbo, Farmer is still hopeful that those practices will improve. Her optimism has not been dimmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ attempts to deflect blame in its aforementioned public statement. In fact, that department has given Farmer far more promising updates from behind closed doors.

“The Thai Ministry for Foreign Affairs chaired a meeting with Human Rights Watch on this topic. It’s encouraging that the government is willing to engage on this issue and we look forward to finding constructive solutions,” she says.

Farmer declined to give details about the NGO’s meeting with the ministry, but one of her colleagues says that there are many other organisations willing to hold similar talks with that branch of the government.

“There is such a strong interest in the diplomatic community and among UN agencies to help Thailand forge alternatives to detaining children,” says Phil Robertson, the deputy director of HRW’s Asia Division, adding that the government has worked on several promising initiatives as of late, such as sending Burmese Rohingya children to shelters, and releasing some detained refugees on bail. But he adds that those efforts “are still nascent and far from what is needed for a truly rights respecting process. So people need to push Thailand on… ending indefinite detention of (all) refugee and migrant children.”

Farmer admits that these first steps are promising, but adds that the work to save Thailand’s migrant children has barely begun. She goes on to rebuke the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ public response to her report, and its claim that migrant children are only held because parents want to keep their kin close.

“The Thai government’s detention regime puts some parents in a very difficult place, forcing them to choose between detention or family separation. Some other parents have no choice at all, and the government mandates that the whole family stays in detention,” Farmer says. “Either is a wrenching situation for parents to face. No one wants to see their child in detention, but the Thai regime forces parents into that position. Thailand should prioritize release of refugee children and their families. There are many alternatives to detention, including open shelters and release programs, that are far better for these extremely vulnerable families.”

asiancorrespondent.com

Reacting to reforms in Burma, donors leave refugees high and dry

A family at a refugee camp in Thailand, where there are still 150,000 UN-recognized refugees unable to return home to Burma. (Photo by Mikhail Esteves)

A lot has changed in Burma over the last four years.

The country, also known as Myanmar, has transitioned from military junta to elected government, from closed economy to booming foreign investment, and from non-existent foreign relations to a historic visit from President Obama.

But the refugee crisis that compelled Seattleite and Evergreen alumnus Garrett Kostin to found the Burma Study Center (BSC), a free community school and library for Burmese refugees in Chiang Mai, Thailand, still remains a reality.

Thailand alone still hosts nearly 150,000 UN-recognized Burmese refugees in camps along the Thai-Burmese border, with more than two million additional unregistered refugees and migrants living in urban areas.

Having fled Burma for reasons ranging from political persecution to ethnic discrimination to armed conflict, these refugees cannot yet go home.

Kostin, having lived and worked in Thailand since 2003, saw a clear need for action back in 2010 when he founded the center.

“The more knowledgeable I became about the oppressive military dictatorship that led Burma to becoming a refugee-producing nation, the more I felt I would be remiss if I didn’t do what I could to help,” Kostin said.

Today, BSC (where I am lucky enough to volunteer as a grant writer) offers free classes to refugees and migrants from Burma, and hosts a library of materials in English, Burmese, Shan, Karen, and Thai. The center conducts research on issues affecting refugees, and provides assistance to refugees facing medical and personal emergencies. Two partner libraries in Burma — in Shan State and Sagaing Division — offer similar services.

Taking advantage of its urban location in Thailand’s second largest city, BSC in Chiang Mai also focuses on raising community awareness.

“What was important was a center that could educate both the privileged and the under-privileged, and work from there,” Kostin said.

Garrett Kostin (left) helps Burmese students browse resources in the digital catalog at the Burma Study Center. (Photo courtesy Burma Study Center)

Soon after Kostin opened BSC, Burma commanded international attention with (at least nominally) democratic elections after decades of military rule. The newly elected government of former military commander Thein Sein released thousands of political prisoners, and ended civil society leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s 15 years of house arrest. The press saw harsh restrictions relaxed, and ceasefire talks with armed ethnic groups made encouraging progress. 

Since this hopeful moment, however, Burma’s reforms have veered from the expectations of both foreign observers and the Burmese public. As commentators like activist Zin Linn have cautioned, it seems “the [military] regime just changes its clothes” in the transition from a military to a civilian government.

Violent conflict remains a reality throughout the country, and negotiations for a nationwide ceasefire agreement with armed ethnic groups are uncertain. In a shock to the media, five journalists were arrested and imprisoned last July. And the Rohingyas, a Muslim minority group in the western Rakhine State, continue to suffer blatant human rights abuses.

With a parliamentary system that ensures the continued primacy of military members, necessary reforms to the flawed 2008 constitution are unlikely before the upcoming 2015 elections.

Most critical for BSC, the number of Burmese refugees in Thailand has not decreased significantly since 2010. Instead, foreign aid for Burmese refugee organizations has steadily fallen.

“It has become more difficult to generate support for refugees from Burma because many countries would like to believe that support is no longer necessary,”Kostin said.

The EU, for example, halved support for refugee camps in Thailand between 2008 and 2012 in order to shift its attention to civil society groups within Burma. This so-called “livelihoods strategy” prioritizes aid efforts within Burma in the hopes that they will support reforms and pave the way for refugees’ return.

But as long as millions of refugees remain, sudden withdrawals of funding do little to serve their outstanding needs before they are prepared to go back.

“The misconception is that all resources and investments should now be directed inside the country to encourage further reforms,” Kostin said. “In fact, there is still a tremendous need to assist individuals from Burma who have been compelled to flee their country and who have not yet returned.”

Recent research conducted by BSC confirms this need.

The multilingual, anonymous study surveyed over 100 Burmese refugees in northern Thailand. Three-quarters of respondents saw little to no significant improvement in Burma since the 2010 elections. Only 3 percent of respondents thought the situation had improved considerably. Although 83 percent of refugees indicated a desire to go back to Burma, few believed it would be safe to do so in the foreseeable future.

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi with then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2010. After almost 15 years under house arrest by the military junta, Suu Kyi was elected to Burmese Parliament in 2012. (Photo via US State Department)

“We would like to eventually see BSC’s operations outside of Burma become redundant,” Kostin said. “It would be wonderful if we were able to relocate all of our programs inside the country, but as long as migrants and refugees remain in Thailand, we are committed to continuing to offer them educational, health, and social welfare support.”

Until then, BSC and organizations like it must do more with less to serve Burmese refugee and migrant communities.

This weekend, BSC is launching its “One Evening for Burma” fundraising and awareness campaign. The campaign calls on people to donate an amount equal to what they would spend on a typical evening out with friends and family — that is, to pledge “one evening for Burma”—to support BSC. Donations can be made via PayPal. (See this page for more detailed instructions.)

For those in Seattle, the center is hosting a “One Evening for Burma” event with food, performances, and speakers on Saturday, September 13. Contact info@burmastudy.org for more information and resources, and visit BSC’s website and Facebook page.

Myanmar Relies on Foreign Investments to Draw Migrants, Refugees

Myanmar authorities are banking on foreign investments to generate jobs in a bid to woo back some of the country’s nearly 10 million migrant workers from neighboring countries.

Senior officials from three ministries—home affairs; labor, employment and social security; and foreign affairs—held discussions with legislators last week to help check the current lack of employment opportunities for returning migrant workers and refugees.

Htin Aung, deputy minister of the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security, told RFA’s Myanmar Service that his ministry has discussed the problem with foreign investors.

He believes employment opportunities will arise from the Thilawa, Dawei and Kyaukphyu special economic zones (SEZs) currently under development.

The Thilawa SEZ—the largest of the three special economic zones—is a joint venture between the governments of Myanmar and Japan and private consortiums. It is situated about 23 kilometers (14 miles) southeast of Yangon in Thanlyin-Kyauktan.

The Dawei SEZ, a joint venture between the Myanmar and Thailand governments, is in the country’s southern Tanintharyi region, and the Kyaukphyu SEZ is located in Rakhine State in western Myanmar.

About 2 million Myanmar citizens work in Thailand, while about 1.5 million work in Malaysia, Htin Aung said.

There are about 200,000 Myanmar refugees in Thailand as well, he said. Many of them fled to the country during the decades of brutal military junta rule before a nominally civilian government was formed after the 2010 general elections.

Special economic zones

Legislators enacted a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Law in January to allow foreign investors to invest in export-oriented industries in the zones so that Myanmar could generate jobs and improve its socioeconomic situation, reports have said. 

Aung Soe Longlon, a legislator from Myanmar’s Tanintharyi region in the southernmost part of the country, told RFA’s Myanmar Service that about 80 percent of young people in his constituency worked in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

“Although we have the Dawei Special Economic Zone in our division, we haven’t still created jobs for local people yet,” he said.

Thein Nyunt, chairman of the New National Democratic Party who represents Yangon’s Thingangyun township in the lower house, told RFA that the issue of migrant workers returning home was related not only to the lack of jobs, but also to the lack of peace in the country.

“We can’t solve this problem by providing job opportunities from the Thilawa and Dawei special economic zones for about 10 million migrant workers,” he said. 

“We have to build our country based on the development of a democratic system to provide job opportunities for these migrant workers.”

A survey conducted by the Chang Mai, Thailand-based nongovernmental organization Burma Study Center in March and April found that the majority of the more than 100 migrants from Myanmar currently living and working in northern Thailand indicated that they had a strong desire to return to their homeland.

But many were either afraid that it would not be safe for them to return now or did not believe that the situation in Myanmar had improved since the 2010 general election.

Almost 20 percent of those surveyed cited Myanmar’s low levels of development as the most important issue they wanted to see changed before returning home. 

Nearly 17 percent pointed to a lack of peace or freedom, and 14 percent said improvements to the education system were needed.

Reported by Myo Thant Khine for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

Karenni refugee students use Heywire to connect with the Australian public

Kle Wah was seven-years-old when he walked from Myanmar to Thailand, seeking safety in a refugee camp.

Kleh Wah was seven years old when he walked from Burma to Thailand, seeking safety in a refugee camp. His mother died on the way. Now in Australia, he is sharing his story through the ABC Heywire competition.

The trek took a month. His mother didn’t make it. She died in the forest.

"Burmese soldier come and burn our house," he said.

"If you don’t run they get killing our people."

Short, loaded sentences like this are all the information Kle Wah, now 19, can articulate in English, but he and other young Karenni refugees want to share their stories with Australia.

The Karenni are from east Myanmar and have been at war with the Myanmar Government for decades, with 10s of thousands fleeing by foot to Thailand.

Thai camps brought their own problems and many Karenni have settled in Australia including a group of about 200 in the regional South Australian city, Mount Gambier.

Kle Wah’s father and older sister are still living in a bamboo hut, without electricity or running water, in a Thai camp.

Meanwhile he is trying to settle into a foreign life of technology, shopping centres and wealth in his new Australian city.

About a dozen students studying an intensive English language course at Tennison Woods College entered the ABC Heywire competition, which asks rural youth to share their stories and ideas.

As their English improves, teacher Scott Dickson gains more insight into the students’ past.

"In amongst their stories is the heartbreak of what they’ve gone through and we knew broad brushstrokes of that … but quite often when they’re trying to explain it in English it’s not really clear," he said.

"Now with workshopping the entries you say, ‘well what does this mean?’

"And they’ll say ‘that was when my dad died’."

Naw Em Mui’s story recounts fires that destroyed her family’s bamboo home, not in Myanmar but in the Thai refugee camp.

It was 2013 and the 17-year-old was preparing for a school test.

"At 3pm I hear someone say the house become fire burn and I get out," she said.

"When I be to the river I saw the children cry because fire burn the house and looked very scared.

"At the fire burn day 37 people are death and everything we have building anew."

The fires prompted Naw Em Mui’s move to Australia.

"I’m so happy and everything is safe for our family," she said.

"I’m so happy that to came to college because I’m getting better at speaking English.

"I would really like to say big thank you to Australia Government and Australia people."

PHOTO: Young Karenni refugees, Lah Yu and Htoo Ree, are settling into life in Mount Gambier after life in a Thai refugee camp.

Lah Yu, 18, and her four brothers and sisters were born in the same refugee camp.

She describes the Thai camp as her ‘home’.

"I miss my friends and my country," she said. 

"It’s hard to make friends (in Mount Gambier) because we can’t speak English very well, so I just study.

"I want to do hairdressing … I’m so happy to live here, I’m safe here."

Mahdalay, also 18, attends two church services in Mount Gambier every Sunday – one that’s delivered in English and the other in her Karen dialect.

"It’s very important to keep our Karenni culture," she said.

"Because we from different country and we want to show other people our culture."

Earlier this year four Myanmar refugees faced Mount Gambier Magistrates Court for possessing the carcasses of three koalas and 14 possums.

The case sparked public outcry on social media, with much support on a Facebook page that called for the accused to be jailed.

It was just one example of the cultural misunderstandings Karenni refugees face in the south east city; in Thai camps food was sourced from the forest or the river, so hunting native animals was not questioned in Australia.

Teacher Scott Dickson hopes the students’ stories will foster support from the wider community.

"With greater understanding comes greater knowledge and responsibility," he said.

"And I think that’s one of the things we’ll be able to share with a lot of people when we finish this project."

www.abc.net.au

Speaker to push Malaysia on murders

Upper house speaker U Khin Aung Myint has promised to send a letter to his counterpart in Malaysia expressing concern at the number of Myanmar citizens who have been killed in the country in recent years.

Workers who returned from Malaysia with the help of Kanbawza company wait at Yangon airport in October 2013. (Boothee/The Myanmar Times)

U Khin Aung Myint said he would send the letter after receiving a report from the Amyotha Hluttaw. The Human Rights Committee will compile a report on those who have been killed, as well as the apparent attempt to assassinate two prominent Rakhine MPs in February.

The committee should seek the help of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Labour and other government departments to compile the report, he said.

U Khin Aung Myint made the comment in response to a question from U Khing Maung Latt, the Amyotha Hluttaw representative for constituency 6 in Rakhine State, who asked how the government was responding to attacks on Myanmar nationals in Malaysia.

In February a pro-democracy activist was killed in Kuala Lumpur just a day before two gunmen on a motorcycle shot at Rakhine National Development Party boss U Aye Maung and Arakan League for Democracy chair U Aye Thar Aung. The two later blamed the attack on “Islamic terrorists.”

In June 2013 a number of Myanmar migrants were killed in Malaysia following a spike in violence between Buddhists and Muslims. The killings were believed to have been sparked by the communal violence in Myanmar. Malaysia is home to both a large number of migrant workers and refugees from Myanmar, with the refugees mostly Muslim and Christian.

Myanmar Buddhists allege there is at least one killing per month, typically a stabbing, and complain that Malaysia's Muslim-dominated police force has not solved any of them.

But Deputy Minister for Home Affairs Brigadier General Kyaw Zan Myint said Myanmar had to respect Malaysia’s national sovereignty.

“Crimes that happen in another country should be punished by the law of that country. There needs to be awareness that we have no right to interfere with their investigation or judicial processes,” he said.

In regard to the attack on the Rakhine politicians, Brig Gen Kyaw Zan Myint said Myanmar police are cooperating with their counterparts in Malaysia to apprehend the gunmen.

Translation by Zar Zar Soe

Thai PM sends signals by visiting Myanmar first, says Bangkok daily

The decision by Thailand's junta leader and Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha to visit Myanmar on his first official overseas trip is significant for many reasons, says an analysis in a leading Bangkok English-language newspaper, The Nation.

Gen Prayuth might not have intended to send any signals when he decided to travel to Myanmar for his first visit to a foreign country, "but his choice says a lot", says the analysis by Supalak Ganjankhundee in the daily on September 17.

"From a Thai perspective, Prayuth's visit to Myanmar is a signal that the political development model in Myanmar might perhaps also fit for Thailand," the analysis says.

"Indeed, Myanmar's army commander [Senior General] Min Aung Hlaing said that Thailand had taken the 'right path' and praised the Thai junta during a visit in July," it said, referring to the May 22 coup d'etat that ousted Gen Prayuth's elected predecessor, Ms Yingluck Shinawatra.

The visit is due to occur in the coming weeks and the analysis lists issues involving a shared border, the presence in Thailand of refugees and migrant workers from Myanmar and the troubled Dawei project as among the reasons why Gen Prayuth has chosen to put Nay Pyi Taw first on his overseas travel itinerary.

"Prayuth's trip to Myanmar ... signifies that Nay Pyi Taw is important to Thailand in many ways," the analysis says.

It says the neighbours share a land and water border of 2,401 kilometres (1,491 miles), of which only 59km (36 miles) have been demarcated and there are many overlapping territorial claims.

Border issues have long been at the core of bilateral relations, says the analysis, adding that many "grey" activities take place along the border, including trafficking in narcotics, arms and people.

A big border issue concerns the 120,000 Myanmar refugees living in camps just inside Thailand, some whom left their homeland 30 years ago to escape civil war in ethnic minority areas.

"Governments in the past have talked to Myanmar from time to time on how to repatriate them to their place of origin. This has been a major concern in bilateral meetings over past years and it will continue to be such in the future," the analysis says.

It says the refugee issue is sometimes mixed up with that of Myanmar migrant workers seeking better lives in Thailand. "Millions of them are now in the country, helping to spur the Thai economy, but sometimes also creating problems."

On economic cooperation the analysis refers to the Dawei project and says clear decisions are badly needed on how to move on.

"Prime Minister Prayuth knew this issue very well since former Prime Minister Yingluck, whom he used to serve, talked with Myanmar leaders about this project many times," it says.

"The key problem is how and where capital can be put in the project. It is now Prayuth's decision either to go on with the project or walk away from it."

The analysis also speculates that the coup in Thailand may have influenced thinking in the Tatmadaw about the transition towards democracy in Myanmar.

"Prayuth might not be aware of the consequence of what he has done in Thailand four months ago, but his colleagues in the Tatmadaw - the Myanmar armed forces - likely got impressions that they should not allow any more liberalisation," it says.

Gen Prayuth's forthcoming visit is in line with a tradition in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for a new head of government to give priority to visiting ASEAN partners as soon as possible after taking office.

The analysis says new Thai premiers have traditionally made Laos their first destination, but that Ms Yingluck travelled to Brunei, explaining that she intended to visit Thailand's ASEAN partners in alphabetical order.

www.mizzima.com

Final 23 Myanmar refugees arrive in Japan on resettlement program

CHIBA – Twenty-three refugees from Myanmar who had fled to Thailand arrived Friday evening in Tokyo, the last group to do so under a Japanese pilot resettlement program begun in fiscal 2010.

The 23, from five families, mostly belong to the Karen ethnic minority. They will take Japanese-language lessons and job training while searching for housing and employment.

The resettlement program has failed to meet the annual quota of accepting 30 refugees, with none arriving in 2012 and only 86 coming over the entire period, which was extended from three to five years.

The government plans to accept Myanmar refugees staying in Malaysia from next year.

The program didn’t go as planned because potential participants had little grasp of the terms of the resettlement and the conditions they could expect in Japan, observers say.

Promoted by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, the third-country resettlement program is designed to help people who have fled their homes to a nearby country resettle in a safe third country.

About 120,000 Myanmar refugees currently live in refugee camps in Thailand. The Thai junta that seized power in May has reportedly agreed with Myanmar to send the refugees back, but no timetable or other details have been announced.

www.japantimes.co.jp

From Burma to the Valley: A Refugee's Story

By ANDREW JENNER

Nkhai Nang Bu Tang Bau moved to Harrisonburg with her husband in 2010. A refugee from Myanmar, she spent several years in Thailand and Malaysia before being resettled in the United States. Her daughter, Diza, was born after they arrived.

Andrew Jenner

When we talk about immigration, we often focus on the opportunities that attract people to the United States.

Many people, though, come to escape difficult or dangerous circumstances in their home countries. WMRA’s Andrew Jenner has the story of one refugee, and her journey from Myanmar, to the Shenandoah Valley. It's the second installment of WMRA's special series "Becoming American: Pathways to Citizenship in Virginia."

JENNER: Refugees make up a relatively small part of the immigrant population in our area, but they help make it an incredibly diverse one. Nkhai Nang Bu Tang Bau arrived here in 2010, having fled her home in Myanmar, or Burma, several years earlier.

NKHAI: I left Myanmar to Thailand. I stayed in Thailand about seven months, and then I went to Malaysia. And I lived in Malaysia almost three years.

A person comes to the U.S. as a refugee only through a very specific set of circumstances.

JIM HERSHBERGER: It’s usually people who have had to flee their homes because of war and violence in their homes, they’re living in a refugee camp in a second country and they cannot return.

Jim Hershberger is program coordinator for Harrisonburg’s refugee resettlement office, run by Church World Service.

HERSHBERGER: You have to register with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the various centers around the world. Then, on that basis, the U.N. refers you to the countries – U.S., Canada, Australia and so forth, there are about 12 of them in the world – who will resettle refugees.

After a long screening process, refugees are usually sent to communities where they’ll find others who share their language and culture. More than 1,700 have been resettled in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County over the past decade – primarily from Iraq, Eritrea, Cuba and the former Soviet Union. With state and federal funding, Church World Service helps newly arrived refugees find housing and employment, enroll their children in school and otherwise settle into their lives here. Another local organization, NewBridges Immigrant Resource Center, has a more open-ended mission to serve as a resource for all immigrants, says executive director Alicia Horst.

ALICIA HORST: For different people, cultural adjustment will hit at different levels. For a person who’s a professional, it might be the fact that you can no longer work in your field, and therefore your identity is definitely challenged.

In Myanmar, Nkhai was an X-ray technician. Now she works in food services at James Madison University. Horst says that, regardless of how or why a refugee came, they face some common challenges.

ALICIA HORST: One would be that people have experienced a lot related to potentially witnessing or experiencing violence. So their sense of security and safety has certainly been shaped by that. And also the sense of having to relocate and the timing often being outside of their control.

NKHAI: First when I came to America, I feel very lonely. I always cry at home. I don’t have friends.

Five years later, she’s adjusting, and thinking about her long-term future here.

NKHAI: I feel very happy right now. I love this country, so I want to be a citizen.

This fall, she plans to apply for citizenship, something that refugees have particular incentive to do because many can simply never return home.

VIKTOR SOKOLYUK: Refugees who come, they’re very grateful to the United States that they are given opportunity to start their life.

Viktor Sokolyuk directs Virginia Immigration Services for Church World Service. Originally from the Ukraine, he came to the United States in 1990 as a refugee.

SOKOLYUK: They’re grateful to have a place to live, a place where they can put their children to sleep safely and wake up in the morning alive. And the reason that many refugees are finding Harrisonburg and the Shenandoah Valley as their home is because they feel welcome here.

As Nkhai looks even further ahead, her ambitions sound remarkably American.

NKHAI: I want to buy a house in Harrisonburg in a good place. And then I support my daughter until she gets a degree and she gets a good job and she can do better in the United States. That is my dream. That is my dream.

wmra.org

The Young Refugee Who Won’t Give up Hope

Aung Naing was six years old when he moved to Nu Poe refugee camp in Thailand, leaving conflict-wracked Karen State, in Eastern Burma.

Sitting down in the small compound on the outskirts of Chiang Mai that has been his home for the last 15 months, Aung Naing recalls those first years in the camp.

“My mother and father had gone to Nu Poe camp in 1997, I was too young so I stayed with my Aunt and helped her farm rice until I was old enough to travel in 2001.” Life in Nu Poe was very different from home, “life there was ok, but it could be hard. My father died in the camp in 2006 from tuberculosis, but there were programs and school there to support me and I made many friends.”

Slowly Aung Naing and his family built up a life in the camp; his mother would sell snacks outside their small hut for around 50 baht (US $2) a day. To augment a modest supply of rations, they would also collect fruit and vegetables from the surrounding jungle. Aung Naing would play football with his friends, and enjoyed school.

Yet life took another drastic turn when Aung Naing, now 19, found out he had Hodgkin’s Lymphoma – a form of leukaemia – last year.

“I got a lump on my throat, it went away but another lump resurfaced on my waist. I went to a Thai hospital in Umphang to find out what it was – the doctor said I had cancer – leukaemia – and that I needed treatment in a big hospital in Chiang Mai.”

“I had never heard of leukaemia before, and I was very sad when I found it that it could kill me.”

Aide Médicale Internationale (PU-AMI) an NGO that delivers health treatment to refugees sent Aung Naing and his mother to Burma Children Medical Fund, a non-profit organisation based on the Thai Burma border, that provides life-saving treatment to refugees and people from Burma.

Ms Thornton, the BCMF director, explained how Aung Naing came to their program. “Aung Naing was under the care of PUAMI in Nu Poe camp – he got sick and they referred him to Umphang hospital. The hospital identified that he had leukaemia and needed treatment straight away but PUAMI has no referral program to treat patients with cancer, so they approached us.”

“We saw that Aung Naing’s cancer was at an early stage and that he seemed to be in good health so we said we could help. Then we sent him to Chiang Mai for treatment,” Ms Thornton says, “Unknown to us when we sent him to CM there were another 20 patients at the hospital also with leukaemia – Aung Naing is the only survivor of that group.”

Aung Naing says that adapting to life in Chiang Mai, far away from his friends and family, had been difficult. “My mother came with me here but had to leave after four days to look after my little sister. I haven’t seen them, or my friends, in over a year. But I call them on a phone once a week.”

Keeping Aung Naing in Chiang Mai was vital for his treatment, Ms Thornton explained. “We kept him in our patient house because he is from such an isolated camp, and we were concerned that he could not get back out from the camp for his monthly blood test.”

Aung Naing remembers how at first the chemotherapy made him sick and he lost all his hair, but now he is off the chemotherapy while further blood tests are analysed. “The medicine at first made me very sick, I would vomit and be so tired that I couldn’t even play Ching Lo with my friends here at the BCMF patient house but now I feel stronger and can play,” Aung Naing says, referring to a game played across Burma, where a circle of friends quickly volley a fist-sized cane ball.

Aung Naing says that he was grateful that BCMF was working to save his life, “When I was in Chiang Mai hospital there were 20 other leukaemia patients, Burmese, Karen and Thai. They are now all dead.” Aung Naing says he was lucky to get treatment in Thailand through BCMF, because healthcare in Burma and in the camps is basic. “I admire those looking after me and the people here at this safe house are like a second family to me. We look after each other because we cannot leave this compound unless for special day trips with our Thai minder. I am happy here – it is difficult to stay in just one place but I have to try and cure my disease.”

A Land Without Healthcare

Doctor Vit Suwanvanichkij, a research associate at the Centre for Public Health and Human Rights, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, is a specialist in health policy issues confronting Southeast Asia, particularly Burma. He painted a stark picture of Burma’s health system today. “Burma’s healthcare system is a disaster, a consequence of decades of mismanagement, corruption, and disinvestment under successive military regimes. Although the government health budget has increased under President Thein Sein, it remains woefully inadequate, with little tangible change on the ground for most of the peoples of Burma, particularly rural, ethnic communities.”

A 2013 analysis of Burma’s budget by UNICEF noted that an 81% increase in the country’s coffers for that year had failed to translate into meaningful spending on health or education. The budget analysis found that in 2012-2013, about 29% of Burma’s budget went to the military, while as a percentage of total government spending, health received 5.7%, or 0.76% of Burma’s GDP.

UNICEF said that while health and education had seen an increase in funds on paper, Burma’s exchange rate unification coupled with long overdue salary increases for the social sector meant that “improvements in terms of additional human and physical resources available to the social sectors for realizing children’s rights were very limited, if at all present.”

Living With Hope

It starts to rain and Aung Naing moves to find cover; leaning against the concrete compound wall, he remembers a low point in his time here. “I had a best friend here, Saw Kayin, he was 17 – not much younger than me. But he died here at the clinic because he was very sick. I feel really sad about that, I miss him.”

“I am not afraid to die – if I die it is my fate, but I want to live. I feel a sense of hopelessness sometimes, but I have to hold on to hope.”

Ms Thornton says that Aung Naing’s health outlook is good and that BCMF will continue to monitor his condition. “At the moment his prognosis is good – he has monthly blood tests to make sure that the leukaemia is not coming back. He will be having these blood tests every month for the next year,” she says.

“He will be able to go back to the camp to see his family in two months time but he will still need those close monitor of his blood in CM every month. Hopefully after this treatment he will be cured – we will not know for sure when his will be cured. We can only hope.”

The rain stops, and Aung Naing gets ready to play ‘Ching Lo’ with some of the other patients at BCMF.

“If I get better I will go back to the camp and join school again. I had to leave when I was in grade 9. I want to become a doctor and create a clinic in my hometown in Karen State, because there is no healthcare there,” he says, cane-ball in hand.

www.bnionline.net