Burmese refugees caught in a bind of limited learning

Feature

Anyone meeting Neineh Plo, a good looking 25 year old will identify him as a refugee who has come to America in pursuit of a better life. But this young man came to the US for higher studies after which he intends to share his knowledge with his community where younger members do not have access to free education.

Plo is an ethnic Karenni refugee who has lived in the Karenni refugee camp site II, 30 kilometres southwest of Mae Hong Son, in northern Thailand for almost 20 years. There are two Karenni refugees camps located along the Thai-Burma border which house nearly 20,000 Karenni refugees. Most of them including Plo fled to Thailand to avoid abuse following attacks by the Burma Army in Karenni state.

Plo knew that he could not go for further studies when he finished high school in the camps. Therefore, he fled the camp to figure out how he could continue his studies. Fortunately for him, he got the Burmese Refugee Scholarship Program (BRSP), a scholarship programme of the US Department of State in 2005. These specific programmes offer scholarships to Burmese refugees to study in US universities. Hundreds of ethnic Burmese refugees along the border had applied for the programme along with him but many failed to get it.

Now Plo is studying at the Indiana University (IU), Bloomington Campus, centrally located in the Midwest, of America . His dream has come true but this young man is not happy with his personal achievement as there are many of his Karenni friends who remain in the jungle camps and are not allowed to pursue further studies. Many have to stop going to school as the camps restrict them from higher education.

Having experienced refugee life for about two decades, the IU student Plo said, "We have already seen the consequence of Thai policies on our people in refugee camps. First, some students cannot leave refugee camps to study abroad because they are being systematically disturbed by the Thai authorities. Second, students in camps are not allowed to access foreign volunteer teachers in camps where there is a shortage of teachers. Third, as a result of all these, the future of students remains uncertain and many students begin to feel that there is no point in continuing to stud. The students begin to lose hope. And, this is going to be a big loss for our people."

The highest qualification one can get in the Karenni refugee camps is in Karenni Post-Ten (KPT) school where students can study English for Arts and Science certificates. Founded in 1995 by Claire Whieldon a volunteer teacher from UK and the Karenni Education Department, which is under the administration of the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), with the aim of promoting higher level education, KPT has built a bridge to the US, UK, Canada, India, Philippines and Thailand for its students to be able to join universities.

The programnme has brought about a positive change for the Karenni community since it first began, because it could send a dozen of 200 students who have passed out of from the KPT to universities abroad. Some of them have already returned to help their community.

But the move could not progress. It has faced hurdles due to the government's recent restrictive policies on refugees which is worse than in previous years. In this academic year 2006-2007, 32 students finished their course in (KPT) school in the refugee camp site-I but they are not allowed any educational opportunities provided out side the camps.

"We don't know when our school is going to be shut down because it doesn't meet the camp policy as refugees are not allowed higher education. That is one reason. Another reason is that the Thai policy for refugees has become stricter than before. So we are in a limbo. It is like we can neither see the beach nor the sun" said a KPT teacher.

The Karenni refugee camps are administered by Thai authorities. Thailand, like other countries that host refugees, does not want to help make life for refugees too comfortable. Their strict policy to control the refugees has not changed since the first formal Karenni camps were established in 1996. Refugees are not allowed to travel outside the camps. They are considered illegal immigrants and threatened with deportation if they leave the camps. They have to live in the same area for many years and their lives are one of sheer deprivation.

Many young people find it difficult to spend their entire lives in the same area without any educational opportunities which would help them develop their potential.

In April 2005, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Coordinating Committee for Services to Displaced Persons in Thailand (CCSDPT), organizations which provide security and initial humanitarian aid to the refugees along the borders have in a letter suggested to the Royal Thai Government (RTG) to allow refugees to attend educational establishments outside the camps.

The letter said, the government's restrictive policy to limit educational opportunities "prevents refugees from developing their human potential, and limits their ability to make a positive contribution to the economy and society of the country which has granted them asylum. It creates a situation where refugees are more prone to become involved in illicit and anti-social activity."

After the UNHCR and CCSDPT submitted their letter to the RTG, international NGOs who work closely with refugees could conduct more projects such as finding work opportunities outside camps, provide training to refugees in the camps and educate refugees on Thai law. But permission to go for higher education in the camps and outside is still elusive, said a NGO source who has been working with Karenni refugee for almost 10 years.

The authorities fear that there would be more new refugees if they provide more freedom to refugee, such as freedom of movement outside the camps and allow the refugees to access free education out side camps, a source said.

"Refugees expected the situation would improve for them after the letter to the Thai government but it has become worse. The government sent its soldiers to the camps as security guards. More abuses are occurring as a result. In my opinion, it is not necessary to control the refugees with guns. It is better to protect them," the source said.

"As far as I can see now, people are becoming agitated by Thai policies. There could be more instability in the communities and uncertainty in people's mind if Thailand does not change its policy on refugees. This could cause depression among the people and affect their development. The community could break down since the choices people have in order to survive will no longer bind them as community," said Neineh Plo.

"But that doesn't mean we have lost every thing," he said. "We have to take orchestrated action (for example: KnRC, KSU, KnED, KNPP, among others) to improve our situation. We have to pressure the Thai authorities, while we will need to secure support from friends like some foreign NGOs, and even governments. We cannot just sit and accept everything happening to us. This is what we all need to think about. We should come up with a plan and do what is necessary."