Uncertainty hangs over border camps
As donations dry up and the push for repatriation quickens, ethnic Karen in Thailand's largest refugee camp struggle with homesickness and discrimination, but most of all apprehension of what they'll find if and when they return to their homeland
- Published: 3 Mar 2013 at 00.00
- Newspaper section: Spectrum
' Living here has been a blessing,'' said Ma Tway, a refugee at the Ma La camp along the Thai-Myanmar border. It's not what one would expect to hear at a refugee camp where ''nobody chooses to be a refugee'' is a common refrain. But for Ma Tway who has spent 30 years at the camp since fleeing a military offensive in Myanmar's Karen state, Ma La is home.
HUNGRY: Children at Mae La camp. By the age of five nearly half of children at refugee camps on the Thai-Myanmar border were stunted, according to a new report.
''Even if we were told to resettle, I would not go back. I hope I can continue living with my husband here.''
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