9/30/09 4:22pm
They are calling it the “Second Wave of Saffron Revolution” which is intended to take place starting 7:30am this Saturday, October 3rd, 2009. Last night while out, Ashin Sopaka, the monk that lead the peace walk discussed in the previous post, came out to talk about this second wave. He said that the monks in Burma will be acting in unison to head to the streets and protest, once again, about the way people are being treated in Burma. The Burma Digest states:
The Buddhist monks of Burma have delivered an ultimatum to the Burmese military government: If the government will not apologize for and stop the persecution, assassination and contempt of Buddhist monks and the people of Burma… a second wave of the Saffron-Revolution including demonstrations of the monks will take place, starting on October 3rd in Burma.
In solidarity, demonstrations in Thailand and the USA (that took) place:
- 21st September: Peace march in Mae Sot, northern Thailand led by the exiled Burmese monk Ashin Sopaka
- 23rd September: Protest at the UN Headquarters for 2nd Anniversary of the Saffron Revolution
Currently the All Burma Monk Alliance (ABMA) is organizing members at the monastery schools across Burma to unite. From what I hear the military is most threatened by protests from monks since they are highly respected individuals in their society and therefore hold a lot of strength when it comes to demonstrations/revolutions. In the past other forms of protests by the monks have included denying blessings to military personnel, which I guess is the ultimate slap-in-the-face. It’s interesting to me how some of the staff hasn’t heard about this yet which makes me wonder how large of a revolution it will be. Regardless, the ball is a rollin’ and it’s worth keeping an eye on.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Mae Sot 2009 Peace March for International Day of Peace
09/22/09 10:54 am
Monday, September 21st, was a special day for Mae Sot recognizing International Day of Peace. From what I’ve heard, there haven’t been many peace marches that have happened here even though a large percentage of the surrounding population has been influenced by Burma negatively. I don’t think I could say it better than postings in local papers today, so I am going to just copy and paste one that best describes what happened yesterday before giving my own personal account of it. This writing was published by democracyforburma.worldpress.com :
Monks lead International Peace Day marchSept 21, 2009 (DVB)–Around 100 people led by monks marked International Peace Day today by marching through the Thai town of Mae Sot, close to the border with Burma.
The event coincides with the two-year anniversary of the September 2007 monk-led uprising in Burma, which due to the presence of thousands of robed monks on the streets of Rangoon and elsewhere has come to be known as the Saffron Revolution.
Today’s march began with a symbolic sounding of the bell at a memorial shrine close to Mae Sot, and Buddhist monks and dignitaries from a variety of religions read prayers throughout the day.
The event, intending to symbolize cross-cultural solidarity, ended at the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge, but protesters were met by a significant security presence.
Panithida Phongphaew of the Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma said that the need to support this movement is vital for a “real [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] community”.
“It is time that leaders of the world should stop saying they support peace and actually act to ensure that peace happens,” she said. For Ashin Sopaka, of the International Burmese Monks Organization, the march was also a rejection of ominous nuclear signals that have emanated from the military junta this year. “We don’t want any nuclear weapons,” he said.
A number of monks were among the estimated 138 civilians killed by police and army during the September 2007 uprising.
Monk communities in Burma have been under close surveillance in the lead-up to this year’s anniversary, with the ruling junta fearing a repeat of two years ago.
At least four monks have been arrested in recent weeks, and many more have reported intimidation. Their normally apolitical stance leant extra credence to their role in the 2007 uprising.
More than 200 monks are imprisoned in Burma, according to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). Four were released last week in the government’s prisoner amnesty.
This covers the majority of it. Since the march didn’t take place in the exact times indicated, it took me about two hours to locate them. I decided to just meet the march where they intended to have lunch and join them there. When they arrived to the Mae Sot Park for lunch there were large vats of food waiting to feed all the hungry protesters. Everyone grabbed some rice and curry and enjoyed chatting among each other before moving on. During lunch I ran into my Burmese ex-soldier friend, from the previous post, and I was very glad to see his fear of the Thai police didn’t stop him from joining the march. Unfortunately I don’t think that was the case for everyone. Although some representatives from the Women’s League of Burma were present (a collaboration of twelve women’s organizations from Burma), I did not see anyone from my office there. One of the staff members called me to tell me she couldn’t make it because she had fallen ill, so I told her I would march on her behalf.
After lunch one of the head activist monks, Ashin Sopaka, had us sit in a circle for a five minute moment of silence to give ourselves peace and love, then to radiate this onwards to Mae Sot, Thailand, Asia then the world. After this meditation we all organized ourselves and were off to march. The march took place on the Asian highway and pretty much was a straight 6k walk to the Thai/Burma Friendship Bridge. It was a hot day, with not much forgiveness from the sun, but the energy of the people still held strong. Ashin Sopaka would chant repeatedly a mantra that translates in English to “May all beings not fight each other. May all beings be happy and peaceful.”, while another monk rang a bell. The march was not intended to stop traffic or cause too much chaos so we stayed to the side of the road attempting only to use one of the three lanes. As we walked on we kept on accumulating more and more people, which was a wonderful sight to see. About 1.5-2 hours later we reached the Friendship Bridge which, as mentioned in the above news posting, we were “greeted” by a heavy amount of Thai military. To the right hand side of the bridge, there was a row of Thai military that were about six long and five deep, not to mention the numerous Thai police that were standing on all sides of us. Pretty impressive amounts of people present to control only about 100 of us.
Even so, there was no need for the military since the march was truly intended to be a peaceful one so when we walked as close as we could to the bridge and when we reached the barricades we simply turned around and walked over to a platform to do the final speeches and prayers. At this time Ashin Sopaka talked about the importance of the march and what is symbolizes which then was followed by a speech done by a woman from Women’s League of Burma (done in Thai, not sure what it was about), followed by a Muslim, Christian, and Buddhist prayer and finalized with the Buddhist monks doing a “universal love” chant. During this whole demonstration, nearly everyone who had taken part in the march was holding a banner or waving a peace flag. Soon after the final Buddhist chant, everyone disbursed. Most of the monks piled in the back of a truck and everyone headed in their own directions.
For my first demonstration, I don’t think it could have gone any better. It was a great model for how to organize and instigate a meaningful and peaceful protest. One thought that frequently crossed my mind when marching though was how small the number of people marching was compared to the total number affected by these same issues in just the Mae Sot area alone. Even though there were about a hundred of us, as we marched numerous trucks drove by loaded with labor workers, known to be a lot of Burmese, not to mention other people all around working in the fields. I couldn’t stop thinking, how many of these people have been negatively impacted by Burma but don’t have the “privilege” of taking a Monday, or any day for that matter, and marching for themselves? How can these people be mobilized to fight for their own rights and not just have a select few march on their behalf?
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Not an Uncommon Story
09/15/09 5:04pm
Last night my intentions were pretty simple, I was going to go out to dinner then go back and relax until another day of work but as it goes, sometimes life doesn’t deal you out exactly as you have planned.
On this simple quest I encountered a Burmese man who had quite the incredible story. I don’t want to give too much detail with how exactly we encountered each other, out of respect of his sensitive situation, but I would like to share with you what he has been through as a perfect example of how this seemingly extreme story really is just common place here. It is also a perfect demonstration of the injustices that are happening every day in Burma. Here is his story:
At a young age this Burmese man had a dream to join the SPDC (name the Burmese military gave themselves, stands for State of the Peace and Developing Council, pretty ironic). He was a bright boy so it was only a short matter of time before he was able to pass the appropriate tests and join. He said that very shortly into it, it became clear how corrupt the military was. Killing at will if it benefited their “cause”, taking peoples land, you name it. It hit close to home when his officer told him that they needed to reach a quota of people to arrest and he hadn’t reached his, so he needed to find those who had disobeyed the laws and if he couldn’t, then pick any five people, make up something they did that was illegal and arrest them anyways. He did not like this obligation so he refused to do it. When it became apparent he wasn’t obeying his orders they gave him another chance, but he still wouldn’t obey his orders. He realized that the military wasn’t for him so he wanted out. It’s not that easy in Burma, you just can’t quite the military. With lots of tugging and pulling he was able to leave by his parents paying a fine of $1500 US dollars (which can be a lifetime of money here).
There is a lot more that goes to his story, unfortunately I can’t remember all the details but here are the remainder highlights. After leaving the military he attended university for a science degree. When he was at school he met other students who were political activists who were also against what the military was doing. He joined their cause and helped an organization to advance this cause. During the time he was a student was the same time the Saffron Revolution occurred in 2007. For those who don’t know, the Saffron Revolution was when up to a hundred thousand people, lead by about thousands of Buddhist monks wearing saffron colored robes, protested the fact the military had removed fuel subsidies causing the prices to go up significantly (500%) and therefore caused all products to skyrocket. This protest lasted around two weeks and caused lots of bloodshed where approximately hundreds of people were killed, including 30-40 monks. This was a monumental event because it was the first one of its kind that had happened since the 1988 military take over. *side note: it continues to be a shock that the Burmese militia killed monks since Burma’s foundation is Buddhism which, as a staff member said in my office, by killing the monks you are literally killing your god* So this Burmese man took part in the protest and was beaten by the military and arrested. One of his friend soldiers lied and told the militia they had arrested the wrong man so he was set free before nearly being sentenced to 40 years in jail. Soon after this, the military discovered footage of him protesting and came to him again. This time they told him that he is an “old officer” who they value, and that he needs to consider coming back to work for them and not fighting this trivial political stuff. He postponed as long as he could by making excuses but when push came to shove and he wouldn’t serve, he was arrested again. This time his parents needed to pay $2000 to let him out, not even knowing what he did wrong, and they had to sell their home and all major belongings in the process to do this.
After this he tried leaving to another country but the military found out before his departure so they claimed that because he continues to defy the SPDC he would be punished so they took his passport away and told him that he is not allowed to leave the country and to make sure he doesn’t leave, every day he needed to go in and sign to prove he is still in the country. He did this for a while until he made the decision to leave and enter Thailand as a refugee which is where he is at today. His family continues to be interrogated by the military attempting to find out the location of his whereabouts but they haven’t found out yet. He is trying to be resettled to another country through the UNHCR but he currently does not have registered refugee status, he is working on that now. Until then he lives in fear of the Thai police discovering him and sending him back.
I know that each refugee has devastating stories, which is the cause for them to leave, but I have never heard one where a person initially worked for the oppressors until they made the conscious decision to stop oppressing and in the process became the oppressed. This is an incredibly powerful story, and a pretty impactful evening having the honor of hearing it.
Last night my intentions were pretty simple, I was going to go out to dinner then go back and relax until another day of work but as it goes, sometimes life doesn’t deal you out exactly as you have planned.
On this simple quest I encountered a Burmese man who had quite the incredible story. I don’t want to give too much detail with how exactly we encountered each other, out of respect of his sensitive situation, but I would like to share with you what he has been through as a perfect example of how this seemingly extreme story really is just common place here. It is also a perfect demonstration of the injustices that are happening every day in Burma. Here is his story:
At a young age this Burmese man had a dream to join the SPDC (name the Burmese military gave themselves, stands for State of the Peace and Developing Council, pretty ironic). He was a bright boy so it was only a short matter of time before he was able to pass the appropriate tests and join. He said that very shortly into it, it became clear how corrupt the military was. Killing at will if it benefited their “cause”, taking peoples land, you name it. It hit close to home when his officer told him that they needed to reach a quota of people to arrest and he hadn’t reached his, so he needed to find those who had disobeyed the laws and if he couldn’t, then pick any five people, make up something they did that was illegal and arrest them anyways. He did not like this obligation so he refused to do it. When it became apparent he wasn’t obeying his orders they gave him another chance, but he still wouldn’t obey his orders. He realized that the military wasn’t for him so he wanted out. It’s not that easy in Burma, you just can’t quite the military. With lots of tugging and pulling he was able to leave by his parents paying a fine of $1500 US dollars (which can be a lifetime of money here).
There is a lot more that goes to his story, unfortunately I can’t remember all the details but here are the remainder highlights. After leaving the military he attended university for a science degree. When he was at school he met other students who were political activists who were also against what the military was doing. He joined their cause and helped an organization to advance this cause. During the time he was a student was the same time the Saffron Revolution occurred in 2007. For those who don’t know, the Saffron Revolution was when up to a hundred thousand people, lead by about thousands of Buddhist monks wearing saffron colored robes, protested the fact the military had removed fuel subsidies causing the prices to go up significantly (500%) and therefore caused all products to skyrocket. This protest lasted around two weeks and caused lots of bloodshed where approximately hundreds of people were killed, including 30-40 monks. This was a monumental event because it was the first one of its kind that had happened since the 1988 military take over. *side note: it continues to be a shock that the Burmese militia killed monks since Burma’s foundation is Buddhism which, as a staff member said in my office, by killing the monks you are literally killing your god* So this Burmese man took part in the protest and was beaten by the military and arrested. One of his friend soldiers lied and told the militia they had arrested the wrong man so he was set free before nearly being sentenced to 40 years in jail. Soon after this, the military discovered footage of him protesting and came to him again. This time they told him that he is an “old officer” who they value, and that he needs to consider coming back to work for them and not fighting this trivial political stuff. He postponed as long as he could by making excuses but when push came to shove and he wouldn’t serve, he was arrested again. This time his parents needed to pay $2000 to let him out, not even knowing what he did wrong, and they had to sell their home and all major belongings in the process to do this.
After this he tried leaving to another country but the military found out before his departure so they claimed that because he continues to defy the SPDC he would be punished so they took his passport away and told him that he is not allowed to leave the country and to make sure he doesn’t leave, every day he needed to go in and sign to prove he is still in the country. He did this for a while until he made the decision to leave and enter Thailand as a refugee which is where he is at today. His family continues to be interrogated by the military attempting to find out the location of his whereabouts but they haven’t found out yet. He is trying to be resettled to another country through the UNHCR but he currently does not have registered refugee status, he is working on that now. Until then he lives in fear of the Thai police discovering him and sending him back.
I know that each refugee has devastating stories, which is the cause for them to leave, but I have never heard one where a person initially worked for the oppressors until they made the conscious decision to stop oppressing and in the process became the oppressed. This is an incredibly powerful story, and a pretty impactful evening having the honor of hearing it.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Aung San Suu Kyi: A (Very General) Overview
09/10/09 4:24pm
Ok, I am not going to pretend to know everything about Aung San Suu Kyi, but her recognition is important in the larger Burmese struggle for independence. She is a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize recipient for her work with Burma and she has become the symbol of peace, equality and democracy for the Burmese people who continue to resist the military takeover that occurred in September, 1988. I am currently reading a book (I would highly suggest to anyone who is curious about the history and political movement here) called Freedom from Fear. It is a compilation of writings by Aung San Suu Kyi she wrote throughout her life, before and after her house arrest, and where all the information below comes from.
So here is the scoop: The British colonized Burma in the late 19th century and continued to have full control over the region until the Independent Union of Burma was established on January 4th, 1948. The fight for independence was influenced by several factors but strongly pushed by an organization supported by many sectors of Burmese people called the Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League (AFPFL). This organization was lead by Aung San Suu Kyi’s father, Aung San. There is lots of history that plays into the progress for Burmese Independence, but an important thing to note was that, only months before independence was actually accomplished, Aung San was assassinated with six other of his Councillors on July 19th, 1947. Regardless of his assassination, he helped to leave a spirit with the people of Burma thriving for an equal and free nation.
Aung San Suu Kyi was only two years old when her father was assassinated. There continued to be lots of political, social and economic unrest with the uncertainty of the country when independence was recognized, especially after Aung San’s assassination. Aung San Suu Kyi spent much of her early adult life receiving education at Rangoon, Delhi and Oxford University as well as working with the United Nations in New York and Bhutan. She married a British man and had two sons in her twenties while she lived in England. In 1988 she received word that her mother was sick and dying in Burma so she decided to move back to the country to take care of her. When she was there a political revolt occurred which was the time when Aung San Suu Kyi made the decision to follow in her father’s footsteps and continue for the fight for human rights and democracy in Burma. She formed the National League for Democracy (NLD) and became the main political leader in the movement. Regardless of the fact the military promised a free and fair election, they were expecting her efforts to not work. Even so, over 80% of the people voted for a democratic nation but the military refused to hand over the government so on September 18th, 1988 they took over and soon after placed Aung San Suu Kyi in house arrest where she still is today. The military then cut her off from contact with her husband and children in the attempts to weaken her and send her back to England. This didn’t work. Her presence is a constant reminder of the struggle for a free Burma. Needless to say, Aung San Suu Kyi’s photos are everywhere on the Thai/Burma border. You see her on t-shirts, posters, books, magazines, pretty much everywhere a couple times a day. In fact, when I was reading her book, I went to pay the bill and the waitress smiled, pet the cover of my book and said “beautiful”. Just an example of how important of a symbol she has become.
Currently the struggles in Burma have been considered to be one of the longest continued civil wars. The military abuses the land of its natural resources by selling them to neighboring countries, such as China, for the personal enrichment of the military. In addition the people are often abused and displaced to use them in the military or take over their lands for the resources. The struggle continues. Elections are intended to take place in 2010 and it will be interesting to see how the military approaches this. There has been lots of struggle internationally trying to get the military to release Aung San Suu Kyi because the argument is that the military cannot pretend to have a fair election when one of the main candidates is not free. The military not only has not agreed to do this, but has just recently charged her with an additional 18 months due to an American journalist attempting to have an illegal visit with her. There is a belief that even if there are elections next year, they will be corrupt and mean nothing. We will see what happens.
Ok, I am not going to pretend to know everything about Aung San Suu Kyi, but her recognition is important in the larger Burmese struggle for independence. She is a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize recipient for her work with Burma and she has become the symbol of peace, equality and democracy for the Burmese people who continue to resist the military takeover that occurred in September, 1988. I am currently reading a book (I would highly suggest to anyone who is curious about the history and political movement here) called Freedom from Fear. It is a compilation of writings by Aung San Suu Kyi she wrote throughout her life, before and after her house arrest, and where all the information below comes from.
So here is the scoop: The British colonized Burma in the late 19th century and continued to have full control over the region until the Independent Union of Burma was established on January 4th, 1948. The fight for independence was influenced by several factors but strongly pushed by an organization supported by many sectors of Burmese people called the Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League (AFPFL). This organization was lead by Aung San Suu Kyi’s father, Aung San. There is lots of history that plays into the progress for Burmese Independence, but an important thing to note was that, only months before independence was actually accomplished, Aung San was assassinated with six other of his Councillors on July 19th, 1947. Regardless of his assassination, he helped to leave a spirit with the people of Burma thriving for an equal and free nation.
Aung San Suu Kyi was only two years old when her father was assassinated. There continued to be lots of political, social and economic unrest with the uncertainty of the country when independence was recognized, especially after Aung San’s assassination. Aung San Suu Kyi spent much of her early adult life receiving education at Rangoon, Delhi and Oxford University as well as working with the United Nations in New York and Bhutan. She married a British man and had two sons in her twenties while she lived in England. In 1988 she received word that her mother was sick and dying in Burma so she decided to move back to the country to take care of her. When she was there a political revolt occurred which was the time when Aung San Suu Kyi made the decision to follow in her father’s footsteps and continue for the fight for human rights and democracy in Burma. She formed the National League for Democracy (NLD) and became the main political leader in the movement. Regardless of the fact the military promised a free and fair election, they were expecting her efforts to not work. Even so, over 80% of the people voted for a democratic nation but the military refused to hand over the government so on September 18th, 1988 they took over and soon after placed Aung San Suu Kyi in house arrest where she still is today. The military then cut her off from contact with her husband and children in the attempts to weaken her and send her back to England. This didn’t work. Her presence is a constant reminder of the struggle for a free Burma. Needless to say, Aung San Suu Kyi’s photos are everywhere on the Thai/Burma border. You see her on t-shirts, posters, books, magazines, pretty much everywhere a couple times a day. In fact, when I was reading her book, I went to pay the bill and the waitress smiled, pet the cover of my book and said “beautiful”. Just an example of how important of a symbol she has become.
Currently the struggles in Burma have been considered to be one of the longest continued civil wars. The military abuses the land of its natural resources by selling them to neighboring countries, such as China, for the personal enrichment of the military. In addition the people are often abused and displaced to use them in the military or take over their lands for the resources. The struggle continues. Elections are intended to take place in 2010 and it will be interesting to see how the military approaches this. There has been lots of struggle internationally trying to get the military to release Aung San Suu Kyi because the argument is that the military cannot pretend to have a fair election when one of the main candidates is not free. The military not only has not agreed to do this, but has just recently charged her with an additional 18 months due to an American journalist attempting to have an illegal visit with her. There is a belief that even if there are elections next year, they will be corrupt and mean nothing. We will see what happens.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
First Weekend in Mae Sot
09/05/09 3:54pm
First, before the weekend started, Friday morning on my bike ride to work I came across a handful of policemen that had randomly stopped a group of “Thai” locals requesting their identification cards. This also happened several times on the bus ride from Chiang Mai to Mae Sot, but every time it happens it surprises me and reminds me how I probably should be carrying around a copy of my identification as a just-in-case, although I still haven’t heard of any incidences where western travelers were asked, yet it’s always good to be safe. On that same bike ride I pass the refugee clinic, a clinic where hundreds of refugees can seek free treatment for everything you can imagine. Treatment is given by a very small handful of doctors, run by Dr. Cynthia Maung who was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her work, and some western volunteers. I was able to visit this clinic the last time I was here and it was quite the eye-opening experience. Every day as I bike by, it is just another reminder of my privileged position in this world and I am humbled as I see people wandering around the clinic.
In terms of this weekend I think I got a good taste for what an average weekend is like in Mae Sot. Having been here before for only a few days, I had a good idea of what the town offers but it was always good to get back out there and re-experience my surroundings. With only two stop lights, unlike Chiang Mai I am able to travel a good length of the town by foot. Also unlike Chiang Mai are the types of people. Yes Mae Sot is a Thai town, but being on the Burma border there is quite the eclectic mix of people, much different feel than Chiang Mai. When you wander the streets you see this fluid mix of people in Muslim garb with a very South Asian feel yet also see those walking around in there Thai King yellow shirts as you pass a store with Chinese characters and lamps selling Chinese tea pots and tea. The food is as eclectic as the people. Quite a treat for those who enjoy being in a diverse atmosphere.
One of the major attractions for the locals is the everyday market that is held in the heart of town. Grocery stores are for the movies. This market is where a lot of people go to get their food, everything from their meats, fruits, nuts, candies, bath goods, you-name-it, is at this market. Unlike other Thai markets this one is heavily influenced by Burmese foods as well so it is an interesting combination of Thai and Burma foods. There also is a smell to this market that is much more pungent than other Thai markets. I can’t really describe how, but I will leave it up to your imagination…Even so I can’t help but mention how this market oddly reminds me a lot of Chinese markets with all the half-alive reptiles (some I have no idea what they are, but look like a combination of snakes and eels) in large plastic buckets, fresh squid, every kind of fish from extremely large to sardine small, fresh and dried shrimp, alive turtles, and my favorite live chickens in cages with a sign above them that says 100 baht ($3.12). Luckily the red meats are already cleaned and chopped ready to be weighed, but never mind the flies that are continually waved away by the sellers. I try my best, but with the combination of heat and humidity I can handle about 30 minutes here before I start to have gagging reflexes. Hopefully this will get better with time since there are some pretty incredible fruits I definitely do not want to pass up.
The only other major event of today was a visit to the local stupa (temple) in the middle of town, my first visit to one since my arrival. It was a breath of fresh air to be near one again and I was able to visit it peacefully for a period of time. The stupas in Thailand all seem to be similar where most look like a huge bell and they are covered by a thin layer of gold sheets. They are also surrounded by buddas in prayer position, very beautiful and peaceful. I took a moment before the temple dogs (there can be quite a lot of them because the monks sometimes will feed them or take in strays, so you can imagine) dominated one side of it in a pack of 6, so I didn’t overstay my welcome. I do have to say even after only about 2 weeks I am getting use to these beasts again, remembering how to maneuver myself around them, just took some time to re-adjust.
Overall that was the gist of it. Much less “exciting” than Chiang Mai but I also appreciate the town a lot since it is giving me a taste for a unique version of Thailand without a ton of the western luxuries (hardly any air conditioning anywhere including my room, now THAT’S an adjustment). Most my weekends will probably be as low key as this one, but still quite enjoyable.
*I realize these can get a bit lengthy, it’s mostly because I have a lot of time on my hands, so if you made it this far thanks for being such a dedicated reader!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
First Week Details
09/02/09 4:54pm
Today I learned some very interesting facts about refugee camps, refugee resettlement as well as the organization I am working for, Karen Women’s Organization (KWO)- http://www.karenwomen.org/ . In terms of the camps I learned that there are 9 refugee camps in Thailand, 7 that host Karen refugees. There are several minority groups that coexist in Burma but the Karen are one of the larger ones displaced creating a large percentage of the populations in the camps. These nine camps are located along the stretch of the Thai/Burma border and they can be quite massive in scale. The smallest camp hosts around 8,000 refugees while the largest one hosts around 30,000 refugees. How many total refugees there are in the camps depends on who you ask. If you ask United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), they only include those that are formally registered so the numbers will be lower, like 90,000-100,000, but if you ask the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), which is a collaboration of 11 International Non Government Organizations (INGO), they will say the number is much higher, more like 150,000-160,000, in the camps and this is due to the fact that many friends and family will arrive at the camps illegally, sneak in and stay. This can become a political issue since how many people are in the camps determines how many supplies to provide. I guess sneaking in isn’t as hard as it may seem since the border of the camps here are only barbed wire, but the trick is to make it down the long, open road which is where a lot of the illegal refugees are caught. If they are caught many are brought back across the border, where some find a way to quickly return but others can’t afford to sneak back financially, and often it will be days of travelling to reach the camps they were at to begin with.
When I asked today one of the KWO staff members if the office was a secret place, she said kind of but that the Thai police know of their location. In fact last year they came and arrested the whole staff one day but some of the staff were friends with the Thai police so all they had to do was call them to release them. The cost was 15,000 baht ($440 dollars) for 10 of them. Many times it is just about the money. She then said that if it happens again, don’t worry, someone will call me and let me know not to come to the office that day (?!) The staff, along with some of their friends and family, live in a building right behind and adjacent to the office building. Today I saw the housing and it is just simple square rooms which multiple people share, using mats for beds. There is a common, large kitchen space, a room to make their products they sell to generate income and a large meeting room. The office from the outside just looks like two garage doors and boarded windows on top, like an abandoned building. They are not allowed to leave a very small area surrounding the office and their housing location since very few of them have proper registration cards.
Focusing more on the organization itself, I learned that KWO was established in 1949 and they assist in women’s related issues in 7 of the 9 camps. I didn’t realize it was such a large operation but there are around 49,000 women who take part in some shape or another, and the main programs that they manage include ones such as the Special Education program, Safe House program, Dormitory program, Nursery School program and ones I still need to learn about. There also are several other projects running at the same time such as literacy projects and trainings. In each camp for KWO there is a committee to help with the success of the programs which include a chairwoman, secretary, treasurer, accountant, auditor and office manager. There are also program managers and program assistance in all the camps. There are 3 KWO offices outside the camps that focus on mainstreaming the programs throughout the camps as well as all the major administration requirements, such as grant writing, proposal writing, and progress reports. They look at the large picture and see where there can be areas for improvement after collecting information from all the camps. Since it can be dangerous as well as not totally financially feasible, many times communication among the camps is done through phone.
I am working at one of these 3 offices and my job right now is to help edit a lot of the documents that need to be submitted to the donors to ensure their funding is stable and since nearly all of the donors are in English speaking countries, this can be important. I also will be helping research new locations to market their goods, find new funding sources and any other general research. In addition they would like me to attend some of the monthly meetings where the surrounding INGOs meet to discuss the happenings in and round the camps as well as the best way to collaborate together. Organizations such as the UN and IRC attend and I will be interested to see how such large institutions work together. Today I was also told by one of the staff that since they travel to the camps frequently for meetings that I could accompany them one day to see what the camp is all about, I look forward to that day! I know there is a lot more to learn but this is a good start.
Today I learned some very interesting facts about refugee camps, refugee resettlement as well as the organization I am working for, Karen Women’s Organization (KWO)- http://www.karenwomen.org/ . In terms of the camps I learned that there are 9 refugee camps in Thailand, 7 that host Karen refugees. There are several minority groups that coexist in Burma but the Karen are one of the larger ones displaced creating a large percentage of the populations in the camps. These nine camps are located along the stretch of the Thai/Burma border and they can be quite massive in scale. The smallest camp hosts around 8,000 refugees while the largest one hosts around 30,000 refugees. How many total refugees there are in the camps depends on who you ask. If you ask United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), they only include those that are formally registered so the numbers will be lower, like 90,000-100,000, but if you ask the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), which is a collaboration of 11 International Non Government Organizations (INGO), they will say the number is much higher, more like 150,000-160,000, in the camps and this is due to the fact that many friends and family will arrive at the camps illegally, sneak in and stay. This can become a political issue since how many people are in the camps determines how many supplies to provide. I guess sneaking in isn’t as hard as it may seem since the border of the camps here are only barbed wire, but the trick is to make it down the long, open road which is where a lot of the illegal refugees are caught. If they are caught many are brought back across the border, where some find a way to quickly return but others can’t afford to sneak back financially, and often it will be days of travelling to reach the camps they were at to begin with.
When I asked today one of the KWO staff members if the office was a secret place, she said kind of but that the Thai police know of their location. In fact last year they came and arrested the whole staff one day but some of the staff were friends with the Thai police so all they had to do was call them to release them. The cost was 15,000 baht ($440 dollars) for 10 of them. Many times it is just about the money. She then said that if it happens again, don’t worry, someone will call me and let me know not to come to the office that day (?!) The staff, along with some of their friends and family, live in a building right behind and adjacent to the office building. Today I saw the housing and it is just simple square rooms which multiple people share, using mats for beds. There is a common, large kitchen space, a room to make their products they sell to generate income and a large meeting room. The office from the outside just looks like two garage doors and boarded windows on top, like an abandoned building. They are not allowed to leave a very small area surrounding the office and their housing location since very few of them have proper registration cards.
Focusing more on the organization itself, I learned that KWO was established in 1949 and they assist in women’s related issues in 7 of the 9 camps. I didn’t realize it was such a large operation but there are around 49,000 women who take part in some shape or another, and the main programs that they manage include ones such as the Special Education program, Safe House program, Dormitory program, Nursery School program and ones I still need to learn about. There also are several other projects running at the same time such as literacy projects and trainings. In each camp for KWO there is a committee to help with the success of the programs which include a chairwoman, secretary, treasurer, accountant, auditor and office manager. There are also program managers and program assistance in all the camps. There are 3 KWO offices outside the camps that focus on mainstreaming the programs throughout the camps as well as all the major administration requirements, such as grant writing, proposal writing, and progress reports. They look at the large picture and see where there can be areas for improvement after collecting information from all the camps. Since it can be dangerous as well as not totally financially feasible, many times communication among the camps is done through phone.
I am working at one of these 3 offices and my job right now is to help edit a lot of the documents that need to be submitted to the donors to ensure their funding is stable and since nearly all of the donors are in English speaking countries, this can be important. I also will be helping research new locations to market their goods, find new funding sources and any other general research. In addition they would like me to attend some of the monthly meetings where the surrounding INGOs meet to discuss the happenings in and round the camps as well as the best way to collaborate together. Organizations such as the UN and IRC attend and I will be interested to see how such large institutions work together. Today I was also told by one of the staff that since they travel to the camps frequently for meetings that I could accompany them one day to see what the camp is all about, I look forward to that day! I know there is a lot more to learn but this is a good start.
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