Thailand:
Burmese refugee relief
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A surprise counter-insurgency campaign by the Burmese military has forced over ten thousand Karen people (ethnic minority group of Burma) to flee across the border into Thailand.
Charlie Milbrodt and the Living Word International ministry from Chang Mai is leading humanitarian efforts for these unofficial refugees.
For just AUD$15 you can feed a Burmese refugee family for a month
Click here now to make a donation
PROJECT GOALS
As of August 27th 2009, Living Word ministries are providing food at three locations and are feeding 710 families or 4364 people in total.
- 304 families in Mae Ue Sue
- 84 families in Mae Salit Luang
- 322 families in Nong Bua
The Living Word team will make regular, fortnightly delivery of food packs to all three camps.
Consisting of rice, noodles, cooking oil, canned fish, some fresh food items like squash, onions, garlic & green-leaf vegetables and other relief supplies.
All these can be provided for just AUD$15.00 per family pack!
Every month, Living Word Ministries need another AUD$21,300 to feed over 4364 people currently in their care.
That’s just $4.80 per person per month!
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Field Reports
August 15, 2009
Project Update
Refugees are primarily in three locations;
- Nong Bua - 322 families - 1946 people
- Mae Ue Sue - 304 families - 1988 people total
- Mae Salit Luang - 84 families - 430 people total
The existence is day to day with no one really knowing where the next meal is coming from. Our team and Pastor Robert and all locally concerned people involved would like to coordinate a regular delivery of food stuffs. We are currently trying to do this bi-weekly. Very similar to what we established at the tsunami outreach.
We have been making packs of food that consist of rice, noodles, cooking oil, canned fish, etc. Our packs have been costing around $6.00/family unit. However, we have been asked that if at all possible, to begin including some fresh food stuff as no one is getting anything fresh at all. We can buy truck loads of squash, onions, garlic and green leaf veggies for distribution with our packs.
An AUD$15.00 pack would be a very good mix for a family on a bi-weekly drop.
A simple number crunch would be AUD$21,300.00/month for 4,364 people, AUD$4.80/person, or about a fifteen cents a day per person.
Click here for more.
August 14th, 2009
Refugee Update
Two weeks ago we shared a report with you concerning the Karen refugees that have fled from Burma. The last 14 days have been absolutely awesome. God has opened some wonderful doors.
Because of the generous response to our last email report, we have been able to say "YES" to every need that has arisen. You have given us the tools to get the job done!!! Thank You!
Even with the breakthroughs we are seeing, there is still much to do. The authorities have not allowed decent toilets to be constructed yet. We have 1276 people using "the bushes." Clean water is the most urgent need right now. They are trying to get a well drilled, but then there are issues with electricity, etc. The rainy season has eased this need for the time being as the refugees are drinking rain water. This outreach will be an ongoing effort for many months and possibly years. The first six months will be the most crucial. Much prayer is needed to create order out of the havoc. It will take a lot of finances and a lot of man power to meet this need and capitalize on the Gospel opportunity.
Click here to read more
August 1st, 2009
Refugees Braving Land Mine Fields To Get To Thailand
In the last two weeks 227 more families have made it safely across the border into Thailand. The stories they tell are shocking. Their villagers are being ransacked and everything they own has been stolen. If they stay they are either forced into service for the enemy army or they are required to pay the equivalent of USD$ 3.00/day/person. A fortune by local standards.
The alternative is to make a run for Thailand. The problem with this is the occupying army has planted land mines all along the border region. It is a sad situation, but many have risked their lives to get to freedom in Thailand. Many others have died trying and many have been maimed by the mines.
Living Word Ministry teams have been successfully meeting the needs of the new arrivals as well as the 4000+ refugees that have settled into their new homes on the Thai side.Since we last communicated with you two weeks ago, the Nong Bua Camp (formerly referred to as NoBo) has developed wonderfully. Over 230 families now have makeshift bamboo homes and permission has been granted to build toilets.
A much greater degree of order and sanitation is being developed. Mae Ue Sue and Mae Salit Luang are still somewhat chaotic with no official camp set up yet. However, we are able to come in to supply basic food items as well as the supplies they need.
Click here to read more
July 3rd, 2009
Refugee Situation On Thai - Burma Border
Last month fierce fighting broke out again as the Burmese plundered village after village; killing, stealing and raping as they went. This has been the fiercest attack on the Karen since back in 1995. Again, thousands of refugees have been forced across the border into Thailand.
They have run for their lives and were not able to bring anything through with them. We are once again faced with several thousands displaced Karen villagers on the Thai side.
When the problem broke out last month, our contacts along the border contacted us for help. It was another one of those "There Must Be Something We Can Do" moments. To make a long story short....we began meeting the needs of the Karen refugees arriving in Thailand.Click here for more information.
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In the news
From the New York Times
Myanmar Troops Gain on Rebels as Villagers Flee
By THOMAS FULLER
Published: August 20, 2009
MAE SALID, Thailand — For the first time in at least a decade, Myanmar’s central government controls most of its own border with Thailand. By the standards of most countries this might not be considered a major accomplishment. But Myanmar has been fighting ethnic Karen rebels along the mountainous border for nearly as long as it has existed as an independent country.
The Myanmar military and a local proxy militia undertook an assault in June that led to the capture of seven military camps run by the Karen National Union, a rebel group that once so dominated parts of the 1,100-mile Thailand-Myanmar border that it collected customs duties at its own checkpoints.
The June offensive surprised the Karen forces partly because it took place during the muddy monsoon season, usually a time of a climate-induced truce. Hundreds of rebels fled into the jungles infested with malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
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From Human Rights WatchBurma: Army Attacks Displace Thousands of Civilians
By Brad AdamsPublished: August 14, 2009
Burmese army attacks against ethnic Shan civilians in northeastern Burma have displaced more than 10,000 people in the past three weeks, Human Rights Watch said today.
"While the world has been focused on the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese troops have been battering civilians as part of the military government's longstanding campaign against ethnic minorities," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "These attacks in Shan state should remind the international community that in addition to the persecution of the Burmese political opposition, Burma's ethnic minorities are systematically marginalized and brutalized by the Burmese government and army."
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From Mizzima, a Burmese News Specialist
Thailand to setup pilot project for refugees
by Usa Pichai
Friday, 31 July 2009 18:17
“Currently, an estimated 40,000 refugees are of workable age but the government prohibits them from seeking jobs outside the camps. We are taking this opportunity to discuss and urge the ministry to consider this proposal,” Weerawit said.
Currently, an estimated of 140,000 Burmese refugees are living in nine camps along the Thai-Burma border. Some of them have lived in Thailand for more than 30 years.
Phaitoon said that the Ministry of Labour is concerned about the unemployment situation of Thai people and the issue of allowing registration of migrant workers that may lead to the unemployment rate going up.
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From the Democratic Voice of Burma
More Karen refugees flee to Thailand
by Naw Noreen
Published Aug 6, 2009 (DVB)
According to a refugee who recently arrived in Thailand’s Nu Poh camp, villagers were given the choice of either paying 150,000 kyat ($US150) or joining the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) militia, who have been fighting alongside Burmese troops.
“We have been already struggling for food and we can’t afford to pay them,” said the refugee. “And we couldn’t go out to work for food as there are landmines surrounding our villages.”
“Some said there was forced recruitment and labouring as well as extortion of money [from the villagers],” he said.
An official from Battalion 999 said that new recruits are essential, although it is done on a voluntary basis.
“During the 15-year-long standing of our group, we have had our people injured or dying, and in order to replace those soldiers, we have to find new recruits,” he said. “We are not forcing them to join; we are only asking for their help, for their own people.”
“Since we are short on troop numbers, they can help us fight for at least three years…and then they can resign if they are not happy with us.
“Those who have money can pay us to hire mercenaries but we are not collecting money from anyone as we have our orders not to.”
Many of the refugees who have entered Thailand had fled from the Ler Per Har camp for internally displaced people in eastern Karen state, which became a focal point of the fighting and has now been overrun by the DKBA.
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PREVIOUS PROJECTS
Disaster Relief
Charlie Milbrodt and Living Word Ministries International from instrumental in disaster relief efforts following the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004.
Click here for an initial report of relief efforts through Living Word.
Click here for a report following a missions trip through Living Word.
Click here for a follow-up report of relief efforts through Living Word.
Orphanage Support
Living Word is also a partner ministry in our Feeding EveryChild EveryDay orphanage support initiative. Currently FTH is supporting 500 children in his orphanage in Northern Thailand.
Through this disaster, Charlie has agreed to take on another 74 orphaned children as a result of this latest conflict.
Click here for more information about EveryChild EveryDay.
Click here now to make a donation
You can help!
We have the man power; we have the government and military clearances, we have the vehicles and equipment necessary to orchestrate the outreach. We even have Gospel literature already printed in the Karen language.... we simply need the funding to buy food, medicine and basic supplies for these people.
Please prayerfully consider helping us reach out to the displaced Karen people.
For just AUD$15 you can feed a Burmese refugee family for a month!
Please click here to make your donation now.