I don’t know my future and I don’t know
how to solve the problem that I recently
faced. I stay in Thailand and there is no war here, but I still worry for my safety because I don’t have a legal identity in Thailand. Even though I was born in Burma I don’t have a Burmese identity and while I stay in Thailand I don’t have any legal identity. Wherever and whenever I go out I worry. I have to keep my eyes open and be careful of the police because I am afraid of the police. If they arrest me and ask for my identity card I don’t have any card to show. Because of this situation I have a heavy heart and I worry for my future.
As I am a woman I have to be more careful because there are news reports about torture and rape in Thailand, especially, among illegal migrant worker. Women are also often forced to be sex workers. According to Burma Women Union, ‘there are estimate 40,000 young women engaged in commercial sex trade especially in Thailand and China border towns’.
I
have to keep my eyes open and be careful of the police...
But I know it’s not only me that has to face this situation. According to documents from the Thai government there are 2 million migrant workers in Thailand and only 500,000 applied for the labour card (a form of identification documents). Many Burmese people come to Thailand and work for their daily lives because there is no freedom and human right in Burma. We can’t do whatever we want to do. The economic situation is getting worse and worse. People work the whole day but do not earn enough for their fa
milies. For this reason people from Burma leave their country and stay other countries without any safety.
I am a Karen woman. I grew up in the conflict area and later become a refugee in Thailand. I studied in the refugee camp and later I wanted more knowledge, so I went outside of the refugee camp and now stay illegally outside the camp. Since I left the refugee camp I have met with many Burmese, especially women who came from different places in Burma. They are working in Thailand in different jobs such as in factories, as housemaids, restaurants and some are working as sex workers. When I saw them I feel sorry for them and very sad about the situation of my country. Before I only thought that only the Karen people are struggling for their lives because of the State Peace and Development Council movements. But now I know people all over the country have to struggle for their lives because of the brutal regime. In my life I have never felt freedom. Sometimes I think about freedom and I really want to live in life of freedom. But it is just my dream and I don’t know what will happen to me tomorrow.
To read the other articles in the March 2008 Newsletter please click on the links below:
I
have to keep my eyes open and be careful of the police...