Refugees

August heavy monsoon rains have been lashing the northern area along the Thai Burma border. The constant deluge broke the banks of Mae Sariang River in Mae Hong Song province after the constant pressure from the floodwaters. This had a devastating effect on Mae Ra Ma Luang refugee camp. Hundreds of refugees were evacuated when flooding swamped their houses. Mae…

Mr Samart Loifah, the governor of Tak Province, sent shockwaves through the Burmese refugee camps when he told reporters earlier this week that Thai authorities had been discussing with Burmese officials the possibility of closing the border camps. Mr. Loifah also speculated that Thai authorities would target Burmese pro-democracy opposition groups living on the Thai side of the border. Mr…

International funds for Burmese refugees living in Thailand are being slashed — ZOA, a major educational donor plans to stop operating in the camps by 2012. Recent budget cuts to international educational organisations operating in seven refugee camps along the Thai-Burmese border have resulted in many teachers leaving. Teachers told Karen News that the coming year will be a challenge…

Saw The Blay, has spent 27 of his 34 years as a Karen refugee in Mae La refugee camp in Tak, Thailand and says he regrets not being able to live in his homeland. “I want to go back, but I dare not to go back. We cannot go home because there is no security – nothing but fighting and…

Budget cuts affecting an educational INGO that operates in seven refugee camps along the Thai-Burmese border have put additional burdens on refugee families struggling to provide for their children’s schooling. An official at ZOA Refugee Care Thailand, a Netherlands-based NGO, said the organization faces severe funding cuts from major European donors that will affect the group’s support for teacher salaries…

A group of Karen refugee musicians and aritsts have got together to paint, write and sing about their hurts, love and their revolution. The group got together in 2006 determined to change misperceptions that refugees are nothing more than a needy rabble. Kweh Say, a founding member of the group, Thoe Tau Bweh Music Village, spoke to Karen News about…

United States Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) visited Thailand last month ahead of meetings scheduled with Aung San Suu Kyi and Burmese government officials, a visit that included stops at the Mae La refugee camp and the Mae Tao clinic in Mae Sot. The former U.S. presidential contender told staff, patients and others assembled at the clinic that he planned to…

Karen National Union (KNU) officials issued a statement opposing local or foreign investment in eastern Burma and urged Thai authorities to abandon any plans for the repatriation of tens of thousands of Karen refugees living in camps along the border. KNU officials met for three days last month for a unity conference at an undisclosed location in eastern Burma. Representatives…

As talk persists about repatriation of Burmese refugees living along Thailand’s western border, a refugee leader said he sees no possibilty for the safe return of tens of thousands of refugees and displaced persons in the immediate future. Saw Tun, leader of the Mae La refugee camp outside Mae Sot in Thailand’s Tak province, said the current fighting in eastern…

Recent moves by the Thai government to send back refugees from Burma have spurred fears among the 140,000 estimated refugees living in camps along the Thai-Burma border. Thailand’s National Security Council secretary, General Tawin Pleansri, told local media recently that the government was considering a plan to repatriate the refugees. Tak provincial Governor Samart Loifah further fuelled refugee fears when…