For background info: When the Burmese military attacks rural villages in Burma and commits human rights abuses against its own people, the residents are forced to flee across the border into Thailand. Once in Thailand, they are relatively safe from harm, but they must live in nine major refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border. They register with the United Nations as refugees, and the UN and international NGOs (non-governmental organizations) provide for their basic needs, such as food, clothing, clean water, and medicine.

Refugees must stay within the camps at all times. If the Thai police catch them outside of the camps, they can be immediately sent back to Burma and handed over to the Burmese authorities, where they face torture and imprisonment for leaving their country illegally.  Refugees must wait for either 1) the chance to return to Burma after the country is safer and more stable, or 2) the chance to be resettled to a country such as the US, England, Australia, etc. Since Burma has not been remotely stable in the last 50 years, and the UN can only resettle a few dozen people per day, most refugees remain in the camps for many years, endlessly awaiting an uncertain future.

According to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC) and their latest population data, Mae La refugee camp is the largest of all nine major camps, with a current population of over 45,000 refugees.

Last weekend, Amber and I visited Mae La refugee camp as invited guests of Karen Kawthoolei Baptist Bible School and College. For the safety and security of everyone involved, I can not specifically mention who helped us, how we drove to the camp, or how we entered it. Usually, foreigners are forbidden unless they are employees of the UN or an NGO, and even then, they are rarely permitted to sleep in the camp overnight.

The camp is located about a 45-minute drive north of Mae Sot. We passed through beautiful farmland growing every imaginable crop (especially rice, of course). At the southern border of the camp, we were stopped at a guard tower by Thai police carrying very large, intimidating-looking machine guns. A few minutes later, we were cleared to enter and the gates were opened. We had heard about refugee camps for three years from our resettled refugee friends in Florida, and now we were about to see Mae La with our own eyes.

It’s hard to fully describe what we saw or how we felt, because we were experiencing the camp through the eyes of outsiders who can freely come and go. The camp probably looks quite different to the refugees who are indefinitely stuck on the inside. What looks unique, interesting, and beautiful to us possibly looks mundane, dreary, and depressing to the people who have to look at it day after day, month after month, year after year.

Anyway, the camp was huge, stretching for miles in all directions. We saw thousands of “houses” constructed of bamboo and wood, with roofs made of dried leaves. The houses were surrounded by native tropical plants, flowers, and trees, as well as gardens of vegetables and flowers that the refugees had planted. Outside of each house, families washed their clothes in buckets, hung them to dry on lines strung up between trees, and cooked over open fire pits. Each house had an official document that shows how many people live there, their names and ages, and how long they have been at the camp (we saw some arrivals as far back as 1984).  Small children ran and played along dirt pathways throughout the camp. Farm animals such as chickens, pigs, and goats wandered freely or lived in small fenced-in areas. On the outskirts of the camp, farmers grew rice and vegetables on small farms that they tended by hand or with homemade bamboo tools. Children swam and played in a small stream that snaked through the camp, and the entire camp’s western border was a large mountain with patches of bare granite rock exposed. To the west of the mountain was Burma.

KKBBSC has operated a Bible school and college for over 25 years in Mae La camp. They currently have over 300 students in their 20′s who come from Mae La itself, as well as the other refugee camps and even villages within Burma. They have built a number of buildings (all by hand, from bamboo, wood, metal sheeting, etc), including dormitories, a cafeteria, and a large church. They have installed electricity and fluorescent lights as well as plumbing that pumps in rainwater stored outside in large basins.

The staff and students of KKBBSC treated us like visiting dignitaries. They cooked large portions of delicious Karen food, welcomed us with a table covered in fresh bananas and fruit that they grew themselves, and gave us a 10-gallon bottle of clean drinking water. They prepared two comfortable mattresses and quilts underneath a tent-sized mosquito net.

During our 24-hour stay, we joined them for prayer services, choir practice, Bible studies, and a three-hour long worship service. We were given the opportunity to introduce ourselves, offer words of hope and encouragement, and describe what life is like in America for resettled refugees. On Sunday morning, a large choir of students were already awake at 5:30am, singing hymns as the sun came up. Their voices seemed to echo off of the mountain and float throughout the camp, like angels rejoicing the dawn of a new day.

Amber and I were amazed at the students’ unwavering devotion and faith in God despite the hardships they’ve faced both in Burma as well as within the camps, and the entire experience gave us a deeper appreciation and understanding of our resettled refugee friends back in the US.

The photos below can give you the basic idea of how the refugee camp looked, but it’s impossible to capture the size and scope of the camp or the resilience of the refugees who, at least for the foreseeable future, are forced to consider Mae La their home.

Tags: Mae La, refugee camp