Most people, when they see the word "refugee," think of people with no food to eat, no clothes to wear, no place to stay and no education. This may have been caused by natural disasters, war, or political or economic factors.

Some people sympathise for refugees and try to help them in many ways. Some provide clothes, food and medicine. Some try to improve refugees' skills by providing many kinds of training. Some people help by becoming involved with refugee communities, learning about their situations, their struggles and their ideas, and try to empower them. Others may feel nothing about refugees and don't care about them.

So what is your position on refugees?

The way that outside people can help depends on the type of refugee involved, and on the reason for which they have left their homelands. For refugees who have been the victims of natural disasters, it may be enough to provide food, clothing and medicine. But for refugees who have fled from war or for political reasons, material goods alone may not be sufficient. It may be necessary to improve their skills, to empower them and to support their struggle to return to their homeland in peace.

I think the most difficult way to help refugees is to empower them. You must first learn the people's conditions, their ideas and their struggle. Sometimes their thoughts or ideas will not be the same as yours. It takes a lot of time if you want to change their ideas.

If you are illegal, everything with you is already illegal.

One spring day, two trucks stopped in the middle ground of a refugee camp in Mae Hong Son. Both were filled with bicycles. The trucks were quickly surrounded by children. "Hey! There is my bicycle." "The red one is my father's." "Where are they taking our bicycles to?" Even the elders in the camp watched what was going on and commented to one another. One man said, "We bought them with our own money. How can they just come and take our bicycles without paying?" A man cried back at him, "Hey, it's not your country. You have to know that you are illegal and they can do what they want."

After being filled with every bicycle from the camp, the two trucks started to move back into the town. The refugees were left in the camp unhappy and confused. The local authority later said that they removed the bicycles because they thought they were stolen.

These refugees have been suffering from the war in Burma for many years. In their own land they had built their lives in a very simple way, by growing rice, raising cattle, selling crops, and so on. They mostly used silver coins as their money because they are easy to carry and conceal underground. They always moved from one place to another. When the Burmese invaded their land and moved them away they lost their land, their cattle and their crops, but were able to hold on to their coins. Even though they fled to Thailand as refugees, some of the could carry their silver coins with them and sell them.

One time in the refugee camp, my cousin was arrested by the local authority after they found a bottle of illegal alcohol in his house. The alcohol was used by his father as a herbal medicine before every meal. My cousin had to stay in jail for three days and was only released after paying 5,000 baht. His family had to sell some belongings and borrow money to raise this amount. The local authority came to the camp several times, checking the houses for illegal alcohol or drugs. They arrested people who were making jungle alcohol and took their things. Each family had to pay 3,000 to 5,000 baht to get their family members out of jail.

It is very difficult to find out exactly what rights refugees have. Even though you have money, you cannot buy things. The local authority can at any time come and take away your things without reason. You are always under suspicion. They want you to just stay quietly in the refugee camp. Your life is the same as that of a prisoner. You are separated from the outside world. You have very few opportunities to learn new things or to have new experiences. One way to learn is by depending on outside people who come to the camp to help. Other ways are by speaking to elders, or by reading books, or by listening to the radio.

Yes, if you are illegal, everything with you is already illegal. They way you act, the way you speak and the way you think is always seen as being false. Even the few things that you think you own can be taken away. Sometimes you feel that nobody smiles at you.

Human dignity is taken away from you.

There is a wall separating refugees from legal people. It is very difficult to be the same as others. It seems that your demeanour is different from that of others. Sometimes your smile is not sweet for them.

One time, we were arrested in the immigration office for illegally going to the city. The officer was angry and questioned us. "How did you get the money to come to the city? Who gave it to you? The donors already gave you food to eat and land to stay on; why couldn't you just stay quietly?"

Before, I thought we were human beings like everyone else. But I came to understand that we have to struggle to make people recognise us as human beings.

In the refugee camp, the bazaar seller's truck always comes from the city to sell fruit and vegetables. They also sell the rotten meat and fish which they are not allowed to sell in the city. Because the refugees are not able to go to the city and do not have a lot of money, they are forced to buy the rotten meat and fish. After selling to the refugees, the traders throw the leftover meat and fish into the river.

Yes, even though you are a refugee and have so little money, you are still the last target of the bazaar seller. They can make a little money from you.

Thai villagers too can exploit refugees. Because refugees have no work or way to get family income, they work for villagers for tiny amounts of money. Legal workers earn at least one hundred baht per day, but refugees can make only 40 to 50 baht for the same work.

These are just some examples of the types of hardships faced by refugees on a daily basis.

If you are illegal, everything with you is already illegal…