06/02/2004

Aung Win Htoo, his wife, Gley Meh, and their two daughters recently arrived in a camp for Karenni refugees located in Mae Hong Son district of Thailand. In Karenni state in Burma, Aung Win worked as a driver but was told several times to leave his job and do forced labor for the Burmese military.  He was instructed to work on railroad construction and build houses for the military.

A few weeks ago, Aung Win was caught in the crossfire between the Karenni ethnic army and the Burmese military. The military asked him for his car to take wounded soldiers out of the area where the fighting was taking place. When Aung Win refused to help the military, soldiers took him to be a member of the Karenni army and threatened to kill his family unless he provided information on the whereabouts of the ethnic army. Fearing for their safety, Aung Win and his family fled towards the Thai border. The journey took 12 days, as his wife was sick and they could only cover small distances each day. Along the way, Aung Win saw Burmese soldiers burning a Karenni village, and he met residents of the village hiding in the jungle.
 
Now in the Karenni camp, Bantractor, Aung Win and his family are adjusting to life in a camp where they cannot register as recently arrived refugees, since there is no authority in place to handle registrations of new arrivals. They are planning to live with relatives until a time when they can register. The family is happy to have gotten out of Burma. Aung Win and Gley Meh hope their daughters can get educated while living in the camps.

Lewey Hey is another recent arrival to the Karenni camp, Bantractor; he came to the camp in April 2004. Before coming to Thailand, Lewey was a resident of Kotha village in Karenni state. He was separated from his family when he was eight years old, and lived for many years in an orphanage. While a student, he was asked to do forced labor for the Burmese military 10-12 times each year. The labor included farming and carrying stones, and the work lasted about a week each time. No food was provided by the military during the labor. Once when an international human rights team came to the village, Lewey was forced to tell the team he was happy living in Burma, as the military had threatened him with a jail sentence if he told the truth.

As a result of this oppression, Lewey fled to Thailand. He walked a week to reach the Thai border and along the way met others who were fleeing to Thailand. He joined them and arrived at camp through their help. After arriving at the camp, Lewey discovered that his parents had been living in this camp for many years, and with the camp committee’s help, he was reunited with his parents and five siblings. Lewey told the RI team, “After meeting my parents after 20 years, I am the happiest man in the world. I am very content living in this camp.”