refugee camps
There are approximately 140,000 refugees, with most of them being Karen, accommodated in nine main refugee camps along the Thai-Burmese border (TBBC 2012). For many of the refugees, particularly the children, life in the refugee camps is all they have known. In the camps on the border, families usually live in bamboo huts of two or three rooms. Amenities like food, shelter, sanitation, and facilities like basic education and health care are provided by aid agencies and NGO’s. However, security at the camps can be an issue as the Burmese army has, on occasions, crossed the border and attacked the camps. The refugees are not allowed to leave the camps as they are considered stateless, where they are unable to attend the schools or universities in Thailand or work unless they obtain work permits. If they are caught outside the camps, they face deportation, where they are forced back into Burma. Most of the remaining refugees have little choice but to eke out precarious lives as in these refugee camps, waiting to either finally return to Burma again, or resettlement a third country (Barron and Ranard 2007).
Image 14. Mae La Refugee Camp
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