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In darkness, Karen refugees dread forced return to Burma
Irrawaddy - February 5, 2010
Alex Ellgee, Tha Song Yang (Thailand) – Last night, under the light of the stars, I guided myself through the paddy field toward the flickering flames on the top of the hill. Dashing across a dirt path, I narrowly miss a Thai security bike and arrive at the Noh Boe temporary refugee camp.
Immediately, I am whisked into a flimsy bamboo shelter to avoid the Thai soldiers, who the residents say are always circling the camp on patrol. Quickly, someone lights a candle – a precious commodity in a place with no electricity – and various residents tell me of their heartache. "We can't stay here but we don't want to go back," Saw Naing, a camp teacher, says quietly as we sit on his hut floor.
He explains that all the people in the camp are terrified to go back to Ler Per Her in Karen State because of the landmines that litter the area and the abuse they can expect to receive there from the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), an ally of the Burmese junta.
"Everyone is afraid of the landmines. Before we left to come here there was so much fighting, the DKBA has put them everywhere."
The Thai authorities told them that the area has been cleared of landmines, but he doesn't believe it. He said he suspects the Thais only went to one path that the DKBA said they had cleared, and did not inspect other areas.
"They need to look over the whole area, not just the places that the DKBA have made for them," he said.
The roar of an engine goes down the dirt path next to the hut and we quickly move to the other side of the camp, passing a group of people talking emotionally by a fire.
"They're going back tomorrow, they're very worried, they can't sleep, so they're just talking about what they will do," one man whispers in my ear.
The Thai authorities had planned to enter the camp this morning and send 30 families back to the Ler Per Her area, but so far only 10 people from three families have been repatriated amid a growing outcry over the move.
On Thursday, 29 US congressmen wrote a letter to Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva requesting that Thailand halt the repatriation of the refugees. In the letter, they said that "these refugees will suffer horrific human rights abuses" if forced to return.
Blooming Night, director of the Karen Woman's Organization, told The Irrawaddy that it's not clear what the Thai authorities want to do.
"Many conflicting things are happening, so we can't believe the Thailand army," she said.
"One minute they are doing one thing and then after a few minutes they are doing another thing. We need to put more pressure on the Thai government to make sure that these refugees are not sent back.
"One thing I can confirm now is that three families were forcibly repatriated at 9 o'clock this morning and some of the families were split up – one husband was left behind while his wife was put in a car and sent to Ler Per Her."
The Bangkok Post reported on Friday afternoon that despite protests from human rights groups, Col Noppadol Watcharajitborworn, commander of Paramilitary Trooper Taskforce 35, had ordered the repatriation to go ahead as planned.
Thailand has stated that the return of the refugees would be voluntary, but speaking to the refugees who were due to leave today, most said they felt they had no choice.
"Every day, the Thai authorities give us pressure. They come to our homes and tell us we are not welcome here anymore. They say they already have enough migrants here," said a Karen refugee in her 60s.
As she speaks, we hear the sound of gunfire across the border. She looks unfazed, but says that every time she hears the sound, it reminds her of the landmines and the war that await her if she's forced to return to Burma.
"The Thais are like the Burmese regime. All my life I have been on the run and now it feels like I have to run away from the Thais. Even if I tell them I don't want to go back, they tell us we have to," she said. She added that the Thai authorities told her the NGOs no longer wanted to give her food, so she had to leave the camp.
Although no one from the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), which handles distribution of food and other basic necessities for refugees on the border, was available for comment, the group has explicitly stated in the past that it will provide food to the refugees whether they are on the Thai side or the Burmese side.
Lighting a traditional Karen pipe, another man said that the Thai authorities also told him that he had to leave because "foreigners wouldn't give them food any more."
He said he felt as though he had no choice but to leave, saying that to stay within the camp, enduring Thai pressure, would be unbearable for him and his family. He expressed overwhelming sadness at being forced to take his children to the heavily landmined area.
"What can I do if my children are playing with birds and the bird flies into a landmine area?" he asked.
"I can do nothing. There are so many landmines in that area, if they accidentally step on one, their lives will be over."
Two huts away, I visited a man in his 30s who had lost both his legs while gathering food for his family during the offensive last June that had forced these refugees across the border into Thailand. With five children to feed, the injury has been a huge burden for him and his wife.
"We are so worried about going back. If we go back, we will have so many problems trying to find food, especially if we are separated from our friends, who we depend on for our survival," his wife said.
Almost everyone I spoke to in the camp said they had been forced to work as porters by the DKBA and were worried that they would have to do so again.
"If we are forced to go back, the DKBA might make us be porters again. In my family there is only me, my wife and my daughter. If I have to work for a long time, then I have to leave my family alone in a dangerous area for them to try and survive," said one refugee.
"The only reason the DKBA wants us to go back is because they have no people to help them with their business," said another refugee.
In a recent report, the Karen Human Rights Group claimed that the DKBA wants the refugees to go back to provide labor for logging businesses.
"It is highly likely the villagers returning to the Ler Per Her area will be forced to work as unpaid laborers for the DKBA and [the Burmese junta]," the report states.
With orders being made to evict the remaining refugees, it appears that Thailand has ignored international pressure again and will repatriate the Karen refugees.
However, with fighting looming across the border and the situation still dangerous, most of the refugees say they don't think they will stay long.
Putting out the candle to end our interview, one resident said: "Forcing us back won't solve the problem. The situation is so terrible under the DKBA we will have to come back again soon."
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