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Week Two Thai Burma Border July 2009
Saturday 18th July
Back in Mae Sot after not too many road blocks Saw Tu Tu's parting words were;
"May god be with you always and on your safe journey to Mae Sot"
Today I plan to visit Dr Cynthia's clinic. Since the brutal crackdown in 1988 the Burmese people have been living under a regime which has imposed untold hardships on the people of Burma. Mae Tao clinic was established in 1989 by Dr Cynthia Maung and a group of students who joined those fleeing Burma after the military crackdown. At that time the clinic was a few small wooden huts with few beds, outpatient room and staff accommodation, today the clinic is a comprehensive health facility which sees around 300 patients a day delivers 40 babies a week and trains 100 new health workers a year. 95% of the staff are illegal which means they could be arrested at any time by Thai immigration. The prosthesis workshop is a growing department manufacturing limbs for landmine victims and carries out about 100 amputations a year with little anaesthetic. The clinic does not discriminate against any ethnic groups. As Dr Cynthia's background is obstetetrics, she graduated from Rangoon University, she proudly tells me that the clinic has delivered 2,502 babies this year. One of the problem's facing the clinic is space as the clinic is illegal staff have to be discrete. Ever year they are faced with a growing population and the clinic is certainly now a small hospital with a primary and secondary school for orphans including boarding and staff accommodation, that still has to be hidden. I was told in June they have closed the gate access to trucks, this is because Thai intelligence came into the clinic compound and asked refugees medics for ID cards, when they have non they are taken to a
holding place and then deported back to Burma. I now realized why our friend Gay Mo returned to his refugee camp.
Today I am carrying out a health education workshop including hand washing and oral hygiene programme at Dr Cynthia's school. In 1994 the clinic opened a small nursery school due to orphans being left at the clinic whilst parents, once treated returned inside Burma. Like the clinic the numbers have increased exponentially and today there are over 1,000 students from nursery to high school. 300 students took part in my session today aged between 12 yrs and 16 yrs Philip videoed it, he said he hadn't seen anything like it before. A microphone was needed to transfer the information to all students. These students are all illegal and live in boarding houses some were orphaned following Cyclone Nargis.
Sunday 19th July
Back to the clinic to briefly discuss the programme for mental Health Counselling training which I have worked on for the past 3 years, after session gave resources requested. I briefly spoke to Dr Cynthia who has received numerous humanitarian awards for her work. She talked about the recent events in the IDP areas and stated that IDP'S Communities in eastern Burma face a humanitarian crisis. There is high infant, child, maternal mortality rates and most deaths are preventable. There continues widespread human rights violation including forced labor, forced relocation and continued destruction of crops and livestock. She tells me that the number of refugees in camps on the border total 116,000 there are 1,000,000 migrant workers who live and work in Thailand and 500,000-600,000 IDP's living in hiding inside eastern Burma.
Met friend Jen from Karen human rights group tonight She updated me on the situation inside the villages. Since mid-May 2009 the DKBA has become increasingly active in Papun District of northern Karen State. DKBA forces have issued new movement restrictions, demanded food and supplies from local
communities and forced villagers to porter supplies and carry out other forms of forced labour. This covers a targeted attack on villagers and the forced dismantling of a mosque - both of which were carried out by DKBA forces in Papun District during May-June 2009.
Monday 20th July
This morning I visited the SE programme. This programme was my first contact on the border 10 years ago and I am so pleased they have secured premises for the children with complex health needs. Their unit is called Sky Blue Centre and the new VSO staff member has done a great job with local staff, painting the premises and securing funding for the toys and a new playground. A lot of the children have cerebral palsy and communication difficulties and would usually sit at the back of the overcrowded migrant schools or do not attend at all.
Due to the lack of health provision I was asked advice on the health of the children and carried out a teaching session on epilepsy. Medication is often out of date and parents do not have regular medication for this condition. Medicines are in short supply, usually anti malaria and anti retroviral medicication for HIV patients and that's about it.
Tuesday 21st July
Visited Nu Bo camp housing Ler Per Her refugees displaced last month. The flimsy bamboo hut's still have recent plastic sheeting on roof. A lot of the houses are not complete because there is not enough bamboo. I had not realized until visiting that there were 7 villages attacked in June the UN also new this was going to happen and did nothing!!. One lady told me she was told to flee to Thailand she was so scared she didn't wait for help she got her 3 children all under 5 and swam across the river with the children she was scared the children would drown she said this was better than waiting for the SPDC, they all survived. There has also been recent statements from SPDC that they plan to attack villages in other areas.
There is a curfew in camp no one allowed out after 8pm as they are very near DKBA area. DKBA are a Karen splinter group that have signed a peace treaty with SPDC. This means that they are front line fighters against their own people. Often the SPDC will be behind them firing Mortar bombs over the top. In the relocated village DKBA and SPDC are about half an hour away, we could see both camps very clearly. The Thai authority would like the villages to enter into mae la refugee camp which already holds 35,000, as they have stated that if the SPDC attack they would not be able to protect the villages!, but at present they are refusing. They want to return to their village inside Burma so they can grow vegetables and cut down bamboo for houses. It is the worst conditions I have seen, the Thai's refused video access but I managed to sneak a camera in. At the moment the Thai's have refused the villages request to build a school for the children, hopefully this will change soon.
Wednesday 22nd July
Spoke to Min lwin today he states that before the 2010 elections inside Burma the SPDC want all ethnic groups to have Border control forces in there villages. These are village security who basically they are bully boys who do the SPDC dirty work not just in Karen villages but also katchin and Shan villages. It is a very common tactic in recruiting soldiers that the DKBA go into the villages and give out lottery tickets, you then have to join the army. If an old lady has been chosen she no choice, she has to nominate a young person in the village to join or pay a substantial bribe. In Mae Sot hospital there are two 17 year old lads who have war injuries they were signed up to fight in the DKBA by these tactics.
Thursday 23rd July
Met up with our very brave friends form AAPP(Assistance for the Association of Political Prisoners. Aye Aye Moe wife of Khung Seing with her 18 months old son who khung Saing has never met joined me. She is a political prisoner herself and is waiting to be resettled in the UK. She has just come out of Umpiam refugee camp as it is the rainy season and things are difficult in camp. She needs to go back as she can only be resettled from the camp. It was great to see her she looks really well. She is upset that she can not work while waiting to be resettled it could affect the process. There are now aver 2,000 political prisoners 1,000 since the saffron demonstration in September 2007. Aye Aye told me that Aung San Suu Kyi,s election will start again at the end of July. She was arrested following allegations that an American stayed in her house over night which breached the rules of her house arrest. It would be very difficult for anyone to get close to her house without SPDC knowledge. We plan to visit Rangoon at the end of August and will get more information from inside.
Tomorrow Tony arrives into BKK and makes the long trek up to Mae Sot with another volunteer,
