It is said of wars that no side wins, there are no
winners?
Well in today's world war is big business, not only for arms dealers
etc but also for aid agencies and governments who "care" for the
refugees of war torn countries.
I recently visited friends in the Maela refugee camp on the
Burmese/Thai frontier. It was just a visit to see old friends from Burma, and
no more than that. However what I witnessed and heard over the following five
days was too much to keep to myself. It is impossible to imagine people living
under such conditions in 2012 and some of them have been living there for
twenty years, and still they are told they cannot construct their homes with
anything but bamboo and leaves because they are temporary dwellings.
They have no running water. They have little or no sanitation. Unless
you call the hole they dig next to their "home" sanitation. They live
in a stench of raw sewage that after six days I was ready to run from!
The rivers and streams are black and blocked with plastic bags of rubbish.
Children as young as four years old walk around barefoot in search of plastic
bottles to sell to recycling businesses. Yes there is business amongst the
sixty thousand inhabitants, some are wealthy business people who drive cars and
live as normally as possible under such conditions. Most of the other plastic
waste is burned in the evening. The kids ignorant of the dangers of breathing
in the fumes sit next to the fire and play games. Poultry and pigs meanwhile
rummage through the rubbish.
The rations are 12.5 kilos per month per adult, and 7 kilos per
child. Half a litre of cooking oil
per person, a small amount of dried beans and corn make up the rest. If you
don't show your face on time at the ration shed you get nothing for the month
and must rely on the kindness of neighbours. And their rations are slim enough
without having to share. The quality of rice is not what is originally sent. So
where does the good rice go?
Since 2006 over thirty thousand have been relocated, the majority going
to the USA. However the rations for these thirty thousand refugees still
arrives at the camp, or somewhere in the region? This I cannot prove! But the
question needs to be asked and answered!
Those who have electricity pay up to 18 baht per unit for electricity
excluding 21% Thai VAT where as Thai people only pay 3 baht per unit.
The UNCHR have made no registrations since July 2006 so there are
thousands of refugees without rights or hope of a new life in a new country.
Those who have registrations can either choose their preferred countries, but
take the chance of being separated from the parents or siblings. It's not
uncommon for some family members to be sent to different countries causing more
upheaval and distress. I met one man who came back after three years in the
USA. He said it was too difficult to be away from his wife and children. I met
one young lady whose family were sent to America but because she was
"outside" working she missed the registration. She was forced to go
"outside" in order to support her family because the UNCHR rations
are not enough to live on. She is now left alone in a camp where there is no
law enforcement and rape and other crimes are common. In another sad case a 13 year old was
left alone in the camp when her mother died, and her next of kin were all in
the USA. In one area of the camp
locals told me of one man who has raped at least three women and is still at
liberty. So this young lady not
only has the misery of missing her family, she also lives in fear every day of
being attacked. She is not the only lone person!
The so called security officers have no power, and are often
inebriated.
Most of the farm workers I saw leaving the camp are women with young
babies who go to work in the fields for 70 baht per day, the men get 100 baht.
The national minimum is 300 baht per day. These workers have to navigate
carefully when returning to the camp because when they're outside the camp they
are at the mercy of the Thai military, who can threaten them with prison or
deportation unless they pay a fine ie hand over their days wages.
The young people born here have no rights to a Burmese or a Thai
passport, thus there are ever increasing numbers of "Stateless"
people.
So it seems slavery is alive and well in Thailand, and even
promoted. This story is not
unusual or rare, but it should not be allowed to continue. Who can stop it, and
how?
