Shan refugees

Refugees from Shan State (north eastern Burma) have started arriving in Thailand. They are fleeing fighting which began on March 13th, when the Burma Army attacked Shan State Army north (SSA-N), ending a 22 year ceasefire.

SSA-N had refused to obey orders from the government of Burma, requiring that they, in violation of the cease fire terms, become a border security force controlled by the Burma Army. The attempted negotions for months, in an effort to avoid fighting.

The Shan State Army broke over that cease fire, with the Southern branch refusing to sign. They have remained in active conflict ever since. Ironically, there is little fighting in southern Shan state at the moment, as the BA focuses on SSA-N.

Shortly after the March 13th attach, SSA-N and SSA-S released a statement saying they are recombining, and are now the Shan State Army, brigades 1 and 2. Heavy fighting has continued in northern Shan State for the last couple of months - at the moment it is considered the heaviest fighting anywhere in Burma right now.

Tens of thousands of IDP started moving, arriving at both the China border first, and later the Thai border (the walk is much longer from the fighting to the Thai border, but still more people went in that direction). They have now begun arriving in Thailand, but there is very little assistance for them.

There is also documentation of widespread human rights abuses being perpetrated by Burma Army soldiers in Shan State, including women raped, villagers tortured and killed, villages being destroyed and burnt to the ground and their property stolen.

The organizations which normally provide aid for newly arrived refugees have already expended their entire 2011 emergency aid budget, as a result of both budget cuts, and continued fighting up and down the border which has resulted in a steady stream of refugees. From what we hear, its getting pretty dire, with now over 100,000 people displaced in Shan State, many of them amassing near the China and Thai borders, receiving little if any assistance.

We are trying to find out what our organization can do to help, but with the Thai government trying to prevent additional refugees from becoming long term residents in Thailand (even prohibiting aid groups from accessing refugees outside of the formal camps), and with little hope of the fighting ending soon, it doesn't look good for these people, caught between governments and armies, who never wanted anything to do with either of them, seeking only a place to safely grow their rice and raise their children. Its so frustrating, and makes me feel so ineffective.

It seems there is a new crisis every month or every week, and its hard to know how to respond to all of them. Fighting in Karen State, fighting in Shan state, food shortages in Papun, forced displacement at the dam sites, forced labor along the pipelines. I go to meetings every other month, of all of the orgs working with refugees/IDPs/migrants, to 'coordinate' services. They are inevitably a litany of needs, shortages, tragedies, and disasters. I always leave feeling like I've taken a blow thats left me winded. Then I walk out of the room, and out of the front door of the British Club, where its held, past the tennis court and swimming pool, down the street past the mall, and get on the sky train, and it is hard to relate these realities. I'm here, trying to do something, but it can't be enough when there are so many unmet needs, but it doesn't seem like it can ever be enough, so how can I figure out where I can draw a line, without being inundated with the guilt that haunts me.

For now, its the Shan, and I'll figure out what is the most pressing of the needs, and what I and my organization can do, and try to balance that with the other piles, of needs waiting to be met. And I'll try to ignore them for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon while I read in my hammock, and in the evening while I drink a glass of wine, and then try to go to sleep before I can dwell too much on my selfishness, or feel the weight of the principles I can't live up to.