Current Issues in Refugee Education

Burmese Refugee In Thailand



Thailand, in response to the need of these asylum seeker, have protected Burmese refugees for both humanitarian and political reasons by provide temporary asylum in refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border. Among these refugees, there are roughly 120,000 Burmese refugees in nine official camps on the Thai-Burma border (TBC, February 2015).Majority of these refugees are Karen (also called kayin, 79.1%) and Karenni (also called kayah, 10.4%), while the minority are Burman (also called Barmar, 2.8%) and Mon (0.8%) (TBC, February 2015).
 First established in the 1980s, Mae La refugee camp has grown into the largest of the nine refugee camps along the Thailand-Myanmar border. The Royal Thai Government (RTG) administers the refugee camps; it refers to them as ‘temporary shelters’ and the refugees as ‘displaced persons fleeing fighting’. The terms emphasise the fact that the camps were intended to be impermanent structures whose inhabitants would return home when the conditions allow.“Refugees are banned from leaving the camp to seek jobs. Refugees are banned from leaving their homes from 6 pm to 6 am,” he said. “Only those who have special conditions such as medical treatment or other emergency cases can travel, but need to seek official permission." 
— Saw Honest, chairman of the Mae La refugee camp, July 2nd, 2014

Refugees were allowed to travel outside the camps for food before 1995 when Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) attacked Karen refugee camps in attempts to threaten them into returning to Burma, which became a regular factor impacting the border security (Caouette & Pack, 2002).
Since then, the village-type settlement transferred to large and closed camps and resident were more restricted. In 2003, the Thai government claimed that all refugees should be sheltered together, which led to plans to move refugees in urban area to refugee camps. And Burmese refugees are not allowed to leave refugee camps without a pass nor to obtain employment in Thailand outside camps. Meanwhile, their access to refugees’ political activities is limited and their rights to criticize the Burmese government is curtailed (UNHCR, 2004). The forced relocation had brought about many problems and refugees are exposed to human rights violations, including protection and security issues due to inter-ethnic tensions, restricted access to information as well as lack of educational opportunities (Colm, 2004), which applies to refugees in general. 
The Life Story of Burmese Refugees in Thailand

"We don't know what our future will bring." — Mr. Yee, hairdresser

A story of a Burmese refugee woman 
Jolie visited one of the world’s longest-running refugee situations on the Thai-Burma border, where an estimated 120,000 Burmese refugees have been living in camps, some for more than 30 years. 
During her trip to the Karenni camp, Jolie visited one such family, whose elderly matriarch Baw Meh said the family had lived in the refugee camp for 18 years, having arrived to Ban Mae Nai Soi in 1996.

A story of a hairdresser family
In 1998 ,  NGOs were given permission to start vocational training programs in the camps. Aimed at providing refugees with hard skills and increasing their self-reliance, subjects have included cooking, baking, sewing, hairdressing, electronics and mechanics. 

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