Karen refugees have recently been in the news due to the bitter fighting in Karen State that on a number of occasions forced people across the border into Thailand.
The challenges for Karen refugees are nothing new, but the eruption of fighting in Karen State after the Myanmar military coup, after a long lull, has prompted humanitarian and rights group to shine a spotlight on this issue.
A glance back at history shows that the Myanmar military or Tatmadaw has persecuted people in Karen State since Myanmar's independence from the British in 1948 which has, over the years, displaced many people.
In most other ethnic areas of Myanmar displaced people are forced to find shelter elsewhere in Myanmar and become what are known as internally displaced people (IDPs). With Karen State sharing a long border with Thailand people fleeing conflict in Karen State also had the option of becoming refugees by crossing the border into Thailand.
Most displaced people in Karen State would prefer to stay in Myanmar and only cross the border as a last resort. Unfortunately, it is often the only direction they can escape in as the Myanmar Army often cuts off all routes into Myanmar or other areas in Karen State.
Previously to that there were many smaller camps along the border in Thailand, but they have now consolidated into nine large camps across the border from Karen State in Thailand's Tak Province, north of Mae Sot Town.
The largest of those camps, Mae La, was built in 1984. Originally it housed about 7,000 refugees, but it has grown over the years as more refugees came from Myanmar and others already in Thailand were relocated there from other camps when they closed. Now there are over 50,000 refugees in Mae La camp and about 40,000 in the other eight camps, meaning that there are 90,000 refugees in Tak, 90 per cent of whom are ethnic Karen.
Since 1984 the Thai Border Consortium (TBC), a consortium of nine international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) from ten countries, has been the main provider of food, shelter and other forms of support to the refugees in camps.
But, throughout that time it is the refugees themselves who have been responsible for much of the day-to-day administration of the camps, which, according to TBC, 'they have forged into communities that allow residents dignity and agency, despite many limitations and constrictions.'
The reason more camps were set up in 1984 was due to a change in Tatmadaw tactics in Karen State. Previously, the army would ‘attack and withdraw' which means they would attack villages and then withdraw, so villagers who fled the fighting could return to their homes once the soldiers had left.
In 1984, the Tatmadaw instead started using the tactic of 'attack and hold' where they would attack villages and then occupy them. This meant that people displaced by the fighting and the arrival of the Tatmadaw were too scared to return to their homes, because there were soldiers permanently stationed in their villages and they would be at risk of death, violence, torture or other abuses such as forced labour or being used as human shields.
Until 1995 the refugees lived in village-type settlements and were free to travel outside the camps to get food and shelter materials. but, in 1995 the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) launched attacks from Myanmar against the camps.
In late April 1995, the older and smaller Baw Noh and Kamaw Lay Ko camps were completely destroyed by the DKBA and these and other attacks led to the village-type camps being consolidated into the larger camps, especially Mae La. These camps became increasingly dependent on outside aid and residents' freedom of movement and living space became more restricted.
Following the 2012 ceasefire between the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Tatmadaw the number of Karen refugees coming to Thailand fell and no significant numbers of refugees arrived after 2013, according to Sally Thompson, the director of TBC until 14 July 2022.
The first refugees in Thailand thought they would soon return home. As the years and the conflicts in Burma dragged on, some people chose to take the option of resettlement, seen by many as a way to ensure that their children would have a more promising future.
According to the TBC between 2006 and September 2017, a total of 109,402 refugees from the camps were resettled in third countries.
By far the greatest number have gone to the United States, while other countries that have offered a welcome to the refugees include Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
After the 2013 ceasefire between the KNU and the Tatmadaw and the later 2015 Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), signed between the Tatmadaw and 10 ethnic armed organisations (EAOs), including the KNU, preparations were made in the camps to finally send refugees back to Myanmar.
Following the NCA signing and the National League for Democracy's (NLD's) resounding election victory in 2015, life became harder in the camps as donors switched funding away from the camps to inside Myanmar as the country opened up. The worsening conditions caused by the decrease in funding also helped persuade refugees to move back to Myanmar.
Between 2013 and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic at the beginning of 2020, 23,000 refugees returned to Myanmar, according to TBC's Sally Thompson. She said that of those, only 1,040 refugees had returned under the Thai-Myanmar repatriation scheme. The rest went back unofficially.
But for some, it is harder to leave. Though the camps are only considered to be temporary shelters some older people have been in the camps so long that they can barely remember their homelands.
Thousands of other younger people were born in the camps and have lived their entire lives in the camps and are dependent on outside help.
Thailand is not a signatory of the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention. This means it has no obligation to help refugees by doing things such as providing identity papers and travel documents for them. Thailand gives little help and the refugees are mainly confined to the camps and have no opportunity to integrate locally.
Previously a few refugees managed to work illegally outside the camps, but those avenues of income have been largely closed since the COVID-19 pandemic that started in 2020, which led to the camps being far more closely monitored by the Thai authorities. They are ensuring the refugees do not leave the camps and mix with Thai locals as they are worried it will lead to a spread of COVID-19.
For some, life in the camps is just too hopeless and unfortunately, there is an ongoing history of suicides in Mae La camp.
Since the February 2021 coup in Myanmar refugees coming over from Karen State to Thailand have not been allowed to enter the official refugee camps.
The Thai authorities' policy is to allow people in Karen State to cross the border for temporary shelter from attacks.
According to Sally Thompson, the Thai authorities are very strict in their implementation of this policy.
When people fleeing conflict cross the border they are offered basic assistance and kept by the Thai Army near to the border in basic, makeshift camps only suitable for short-term stays. Local Thai civil society organisations (CSOs) and NGOs have been taking food to the refugees and providing health checks for them.
As soon as the fighting dies down in the areas that the refugees have fled from the Thai authorities push them back into Myanmar, though they are allowed to return to Thailand if fighting flares up again in the areas they have returned to.
The average length of time these refugees are spending in Thailand is two days, but sometimes they stay as long as a month. Many are having to go backwards and forwards over the border as the junta army goes in and out of the areas where they live.
The situation on the Myanmar side is often so precarious that people feel safer staying in makeshift shelters in the jungle rather than in their villages, though they like to stay near to their homes to try to protect them from the junta soldiers who frequently destroy people's homes.
From 2012 until the February 2021 coup fewer refugees had been coming from Karen State to Thailand as the situation had got comparatively better in Karen State. But since the coup, the situation in Karen Sate has markedly deteriorated.
Again, Karen people are being forced to seek refuge in Thailand. Previously they could rely on basic long-term accommodation, a degree of safety and protection from the Myanmar Army.
But now, the situation in Karen State has dramatically deteriorated and it is as bad as it has ever been. Unfortunately, it is harder for the fleeing Karen refugees to rely on their Thai hosts as Bangkok prefers to send refugees back when the fighting dies down.
