Fire Kills 27 At Mae Hong Son Refugee Camp

[Tywais]

Baan Mae Surin background information:

Ban Mae Surin camp consists of an area of around 75 acres (30 hectares) in a remote region of Thailand along the border with Burma, according to the Bangkok-based nongovernmental organization The Border Consortium.

The camp’s 3,300 refugees are around 85 percent ethnic Karen and nearly 14 percent Karenni, the group says.

Ban Mae Surin lies off Thailand’s main electricity grid. Its office and other major facilities can access power through the use of generators while hydroelectricity is used to power household lighting and charge vehicle batteries.

The camp is one of ten strung along the border which house a total of about 130,000 people—the first of whom began arriving in the 1980s to escape violence in Burma. Many of the camp’s residents have registered with the U.N. as refugees and tens of thousands have resettled to third countries.

Thailand has allowed the camps to remain, despite an announcement two years ago that it would close them when a nominally civilian government took power in Burma under President Thein Sein after decades of military rule. Bangkok has pledged that it will only send refugees home when it is safe.

Thein Sein had ordered a halt to military offensives against ethnic rebels last year, and since he came to office, Burmese authorities have signed peace agreements with 10 armed ethnic groups, including the Karen. The Karenni are currently in ceasefire negotiations with the government.

Fires common

Fires are common at the refugee camps, particularly during Thailand’s hot season, which is fast approaching. Shelters are often built side by side, and a lack of firefighting equipment means large swaths of the camps can be destroyed at a time.

Hundreds of homes were destroyed at a different border camp in February last year by a fire that the authorities also blamed on cooking.

Around 60 homes were razed at Ban Mae Surin in March 2010 after an unattended candle led to a fire that engulfed Section 4 within half an hour, though no residents were seriously injured in the incident.

Authorities called the accident the worst in the camp’s history.

Radio Free Asia

[NoshowJones]

If the Thai authorities did not keep the refugees locked up like animals, maybe there would have been no casulties ?? "I don't care if you are burning or not, without the correct paperwork you are not entering the Kingdom!"

May those poor peoples souls rest in peace.

So what do you want us to do? open all our borders and let all the elements move freely in the country. immediately send them back to where they came from? give some logical suggestions.

Suggestions? OK, Thailand could be like the UK and open up our borders to everyone, and give them benefits, housing, free medical attention etc and let the taxpayers fund it all. Seriously, I hope the authorities find the people responsible for this tragedy. Thailand does not treat us Westerners well, but they have the right idea not letting all the emigrants settle in the country as they do in the UK.

[webfact]

33 Myanmar refugees die in fire at camp in Thailand
By Digital Media



MAE HONG SON, March 23 -- At least 33 displaced Myanmar living at a temporary camp in the northern province of Mae Hong Son died Friday in a raging fire, while over hundred others were injured.

The fire which started at around 4 pm on Friday has destroyed about 420 houses, mostly made of bamboo and roofed with dried grass, at the Ban Mae Surin camp in Mae Hong Son's Khun Yuam district.

About 3,000 people, mostly from Myanmar's Karen minority, live at the camp. More than 100,000 refugees live in Thai camps near the Myanmar border, mostly ethnic Karen who fled fighting between Karen groups and the Myanmar government.

The fire was under control about two hours later and those who lost their shelters were being temporarily housed in tents provided by Thai authorities and the private sector.

A 33rd body were found this morning. It was expected that casualties could reach at least 60.

Department of Provincial Administration director general Chuan Sirinanthaporn said the blaze was believed to have been started by a cooking accident. He said officials were inspecting the scene and believed more bodies would be found. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2013-03-23

[scorecard]

These people are either political or economic migrants and it is impossible to open the flood-gates when you are surrounded by so many poor countries. Thailand doesn't need any more poor people, certainly not the many millions who would pour in from Laos, Burma and even Bangladesh and Vietnam.. Who knows possibly India and China too, once the news gets around...in about 10 minutes.

So wise up guys, these camps are a necessity, as are these terrible incidents, or do you want to live in a country with 10 million street beggars and thieves?.

and yes, fortunately we are the elite, we have money so they let us stay here, the minute we don't they throw us out.

RIP........

So, Mister 'Elite'.. ok, it can be agreed agree that Thailand can't simply open the flood-gates and so these camps are a 'necessity' to some extent at least.. but these 'incidents' are necessary also...??????? Hitler's dead and gone, you know, so your culling of the 'beggars and thieves' is a bit misplaced and unnecessary (the camps you mentioned should be enough, no?)... and no, we (westerners) don't all have money. I certainly don't but have nonetheless been here in Thailand for six years now.. working in a government institute, (despite the low, LOW salary!), which is why I - and so many others likewise positioned or dispositioned or just happy to be here regardless - have relatively only minor issues to deal with when it comes to visa and work-permit issue, re-issue, and extension(s), and they don't 'throw us out' despite that we're not members of your merry band of 'have-moneys'...

.. as per your signature quote, I'd finish with '..if i agreed with you we'd both be wrong' which is not to say I don't think you have some fair points, but also that I do think maybe you might (re)consider that there's a bit of 'wising up' to be done from your own perspective before speaking out with such apparent certainty - and even some extreme right-wing inference - on matters you're perhaps not quite so fully au-fait with as you'd like to believe...

That said, have a good day and RIP all those lost...

There is clearly a serious problem in terms of millions of people, worldwide, who try to escape poverty, violence etc., and there are millions who are stateless (just look at the hill tribe communities, etc., above Thailand).

This 'problem' should be addressed by the world rather than just point fingers at Thailand, etc.

How could it be addressed by the world?

Easy answer - the UN, which IMHO has failed miserably on many counts including this one.

Edited March 23, 2013 by scorecard

[simple1]

If the Thai authorities did not keep the refugees locked up like animals, maybe there would have been no casulties ?? "I don't care if you are burning or not, without the correct paperwork you are not entering the Kingdom!"

May those poor peoples souls rest in peace.

So what do you want us to do? open all our borders and let all the elements move freely in the country. immediately send them back to where they came from? give some logical suggestions.

Suggestions? OK, Thailand could be like the UK and open up our borders to everyone, and give them benefits, housing, free medical attention etc and let the taxpayers fund it all. Seriously, I hope the authorities find the people responsible for this tragedy. Thailand does not treat us Westerners well, but they have the right idea not letting all the emigrants settle in the country as they do in the UK.

Just a heads up, the OP is about a refugee camp for people fleeing oppression and discrimination by the Burmese government, not "emigrants". A step forward would be for the Thai government to become a signatory for the UN Convention for Refugees and accessible for assistance by UNHCR. Many of the refugees will not have Burmese citizenship, rescinded in 1982 by the Burmese government, thereby complicating and delaying assistance by outside refugee support organisations. Again as a step forward it would be great if the Burmese government would repeal this legislation.

Edited March 23, 2013 by simple1

[hellodolly]

The camp I was in was located in Mai Sot and had a fluid population of 50,000 people.The fire hazards are immense as shown in earlier pictures here. I wish I could figure out how to down load them from my collection although the earlier ones were very indicative of the problem. Yes Thailand could do more they now supply only 75% of there daily nutritional intake. It is not as though Thailand has no rice to spare. There are various NGO s working in the camps to help the people with every thing from schooling to addiction to pregnancy and other medical problems. There are many who have been repatriated to foreign nations. The guide I had was working very hard on his English and education hoping to go to America as some of his friends had.

[Beetlejuice]

If the Thai authorities did not keep the refugees locked up like animals, maybe there would have been no casulties ?? "I don't care if you are burning or not, without the correct paperwork you are not entering the Kingdom!"

May those poor peoples souls rest in peace.

So what do you want us to do? open all our borders and let all the elements move freely in the country. immediately send them back to where they came from? give some logical suggestions.

Suggestions? OK, Thailand could be like the UK and open up our borders to everyone, and give them benefits, housing, free medical attention etc and let the taxpayers fund it all. Seriously, I hope the authorities find the people responsible for this tragedy. Thailand does not treat us Westerners well, but they have the right idea not letting all the emigrants settle in the country as they do in the UK.

If anyone were found to be keeping dogs, cats or any other types of pets in appalling conditions, then they would be highly criticised by posters and animal lovers, more so than people it appears.

Considering that Thailand has been lumbered with these refugees, whether economic or otherwise, than it is morally responsible for their welfare while in the country. They have 2 choices, either throw them out or let them stay. If the later, than they should be adequately housed and facilitated with humane conditions in relative safety. Some may argue that by providing shelter and decent conditions for them would only attract more, whereas by leaving them to have to care for themselves under deplorable conditions and well publicising these fires, which who knows maybe started deliberately as a ploy to act as a further deterrent to refugees considering making Thailand their home, could have the opposite affect by bringing more sympathy and criticism of they’re treatment from the International communities and other prominent Thais.

It`s rather a catch 22, and this state of affairs requires a political solution. They could secure and increase the staffing of border guards or even forcibly evict them back over the borders to their own countries. There are no easy solutions as regards refugees and illegal Immigrants in any countries. But placing these people, and they are people, the same as us, in an environment where they are not permitted to work in order to support themselves and not entitled to any welfare, is simply cruel and inhumane.

Edited March 23, 2013 by Beetlejuice

[webfact]

Death toll from fire at Myanmar camp in Mae Hong Son rises to 45, seriously injured increases by 5 to 11 while 96 are slightly wounded /MCOT

[webfact]

45 dead in refugee camp fire: Thai official

MAE SURIN, Thailand, March 23, 2013 (AFP) - The toll from a blaze that swept through a camp in northern Thailand has risen to 45, authorities said Saturday, after hundreds of shelters for refugees from Myanmar were reduced to ashes.

Over 100 people were injured in Friday's fire, which destroyed about 400 homes at the Mae Surin camp in Mae Hong Son province, Thailand's Interior Ministry said as it updated the death toll.

Rescue workers were searching for bodies in the wreckage of the shelters at the remote mountainous camp area, according to a spokesman from the provincial authorities.

"All of (the) dead bodies I seen this morning are burnt beyond recognition," he said, adding that some 2,300 people had been left homeless by the blaze.

Aerial footage of the area shown on Thai television showed huge swathes of the camp completely incinerated.
Authorities believe the fire was sparked by an unattended cooking flame.

A local district official said hot weather, combined with strong winds had caused the fire to spread quickly among the thatched bamboo shelters.

Women, children and the elderly are believed to make up the majority of the victims.

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said it was rushing to provide plastic sheets, bed mats and other resources to make emergency shelters.

"We are deeply saddened by this tragic incident and doing what we can to provide instant relief," said the UNHCR's Thailand representative Mireille Girard in a statement.

The Interior Ministry's Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Bureau said a school, clinic and two food warehouses had also been destroyed.

The Thai government pledged an investigation into the fire at the camp, which was set up in 1992 and houses roughly 3,500 refugees.

Ten camps strung out along the Thai-Myanmar border are home to a total of about 130,000 people, who first began arriving in the 1980s.

Many of the refugees have fled conflict zones in ethnic areas of Myanmar, also known as Burma.

Families often live cheek-by-jowl in simple bamboo-and-thatch dwellings.

Many of the camp's residents have been registered with the UN as refugees, and an ongoing resettlement programme has allowed tens of thousands to move to other countries.

After a new quasi-civilian government replaced the long-ruling junta in Myanmar two years ago, Thailand announced it wanted to shut the border camps, raising concern among their residents.

But so far they have been allowed to stay and the Thai government has stressed that it will only send them back when it is safe to do so.

Many of the refugees are from Myanmar's eastern Karen state, where a major rebel group, the Karen National Union (KNU) signed a ceasefire deal with the new regime last year after decades of civil war.

Vast numbers of people fled the former Myanmar junta's counter-insurgency campaign, which rights groups say deliberately targeted civilians, driving them from their homes, destroying villages and forcing them to work for the army.

Years of war have left the Karen region littered with landmines while development has been held back, leaving dilapidated infrastructure and threadbare education and health services.

Hundreds of homes were destroyed at a different border camp in February last year by a fire that the authorities also blamed on cooking.


-- (c) Copyright AFP 2013-03-23

[zakk9]

These people are either political or economic migrants and it is impossible to open the flood-gates when you are surrounded by so many poor countries. Thailand doesn't need any more poor people, certainly not the many millions who would pour in from Laos, Burma and even Bangladesh and Vietnam.. Who knows possibly India and China too, once the news gets around...in about 10 minutes.

So wise up guys, these camps are a necessity, as are these terrible incidents, or do you want to live in a country with 10 million street beggars and thieves?.

and yes, fortunately we are the elite, we have money so they let us stay here, the minute we don't they throw us out.

RIP........

There are already around 3 million Burmese in Thailand, most of them legally, and the Thai government wants to import more, since they are needed in an assortment of industries. The fertility rate in Thailand is 1.6, far bellow what is needed for a sustainable economy, so the need for foreign labour will increase.

I have been to refugee camps in Mae Sot as well as Mae Hong Son, and although I won't theorise around the reasons for holding these refugees in camps, there's an assortment of economic activity, legal as well as illegal, going on in those areas. Corruption is obviously rampant at all levels and on both sides of the border.

The best example of the Thai attitude can be seen in Ban Rak Thai in Mae Hong Song province. The Chinese refugees living there have been there since 1948, are now third generation, but is refused citizenship as well as normal access to the rest of the kingdom. They grow excellent tea up there btw. Even mainland Chinese travel there to buy

[MILT]

Very sad news! Fires are horrific.

RIP

[wilcopops]

These people are either political or economic migrants and it is impossible to open the flood-gates when you are surrounded by so many poor countries. Thailand doesn't need any more poor people, certainly not the many millions who would pour in from Laos, Burma and even Bangladesh and Vietnam.. Who knows possibly India and China too, once the news gets around...in about 10 minutes.

So wise up guys, these camps are a necessity, as are these terrible incidents, or do you want to live in a country with 10 million street beggars and thieves?.

and yes, fortunately we are the elite, we have money so they let us stay here, the minute we don't they throw us out.

RIP........

Absolute nonsense.....thailand's attitude to refugees is cavalier and probably in breach of international law. ThaIland is a rich country twice the size of uk with half the population - there's plEnty of room; besides most immigrants and refugees turn out to be of economic

advantage to the countries they settle in.

They STILL have a Karen "show" going on near Pattaya.

there have been serious allegations of delaying these refugees their passes on to other countries because local officials have been making their own little nest-eggs out of the tourit trade they attract.

[Konini]

Baan Mae Surin background information:

Thank you for posting this, very helpful info

[soi41]

Quite interesting to see the posters reaction (or lack thereoff) to this tragedy. Seem like we have adopted the Thai point of view on Burmese people= second or third class, not so important if they live or die. I could imagine the reaction, in the press and here on TV, if 62 "white" people had died in an inferno of fire.

The thread about the suggested songkran alcohol ban has got 3 times as many replies as this one.

Well I guess we all have different priorities!

[ratcatcher]

These people are either political or economic migrants and it is impossible to open the flood-gates when you are surrounded by so many poor countries. Thailand doesn't need any more poor people, certainly not the many millions who would pour in from Laos, Burma and even Bangladesh and Vietnam.. Who knows possibly India and China too, once the news gets around...in about 10 minutes.

So wise up guys, these camps are a necessity, as are these terrible incidents, or do you want to live in a country with 10 million street beggars and thieves?.

and yes, fortunately we are the elite, we have money so they let us stay here, the minute we don't they throw us out.

RIP........

Absolute nonsense.....thailand's attitude to refugees is cavalier and probably in breach of international law. ThaIland is a rich country twice the size of uk with half the population - there's plEnty of room; besides most immigrants and refugees turn out to be of economic

advantage to the countries they settle in.

They STILL have a Karen "show" going on near Pattaya.

there have been serious allegations of delaying these refugees their passes on to other countries because local officials have been making their own little nest-eggs out of the tourit trade they attract.

Good post, just a minor discrepancy.

Although the geographical area of Thailand is over twice that of the United Kingdom, the population comparison is this, approximately as of 2011, of course.

Thailand 67,091,000 Plus and the United Kingdom 62,641,000 Plus.

The U.K. would appear to be more densely populated than Thailand although a look at parts of The British Isles shows vast areas of sparsely inhabited land especially in Scotland..

Your point though is that there is room here for these people, after all, they are already in Thailand albeit cooped up like cattle in a field.

[zakk9]

Your point though is that there is room here for these people, after all, they are already in Thailand albeit cooped up like cattle in a field.

In Mae Sot, the situation is absolutely absurd. On one side, you have the refugee camps with Burmese who are not allowed to enter "Thailand proper", while closer to the official border crossing, Burmese who have managed to acquire Burmese id papers can buy the documents needed to stay and work in Thailand. The most significant difference between the two groups seems to be money and connections, and in some cases the willingness to do what must be done to acquire those assets.

[Tywais]

62 Myanmar refugees perish in fire at Thailand camp

This March 23, 2013, photo presents an aerial view of the Ban Mae Surin refugee camp in Mae Hong Son province,

northern Thailand, which was burnt down in a fire that was sparked on Friday by a cooking accident.

At least 62 Myanmar refugees died in the fire.

At least 62 Myanmar refugees have been killed and more than 200 injured when a fire swept through their camp in northern Thailand. Officials fear that the toll could rise further.

Earlier, 30 refugees were reported killed when a fire broke out on Friday evening at the Mae Surin refugee camp in Mae Hong Son province.

Paisarn Thanyawinitchakul, Chief of the Mae Hong Son Public Health Office, said 32 more bodies were found in the burnt camp and the death toll could rise further. Most of the victims died of suffocation.

TheHindu.com

[ratcatcher]

62 Myanmar refugees perish in fire at Thailand camp

This March 23, 2013, photo presents an aerial view of the Ban Mae Surin refugee camp in Mae Hong Son province,

northern Thailand, which was burnt down in a fire that was sparked on Friday by a cooking accident.

At least 62 Myanmar refugees died in the fire.

At least 62 Myanmar refugees have been killed and more than 200 injured when a fire swept through their camp in northern Thailand. Officials fear that the toll could rise further.

Earlier, 30 refugees were reported killed when a fire broke out on Friday evening at the Mae Surin refugee camp in Mae Hong Son province.

Paisarn Thanyawinitchakul, Chief of the Mae Hong Son Public Health Office, said 32 more bodies were found in the burnt camp and the death toll could rise further. Most of the victims died of suffocation.

TheHindu.com

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. May they all find eternal peace.

[wilcopops]

It's the sound bites I object to - the Cliches - "open the floodgates" "beggars and thieves" - were this their jobs back home?

[Johpa]

Your point though is that there is room here for these people, after all, they are already in Thailand albeit cooped up like cattle in a field.

In Mae Sot, the situation is absolutely absurd. On one side, you have the refugee camps with Burmese who are not allowed to enter "Thailand proper", while closer to the official border crossing, Burmese who have managed to acquire Burmese id papers can buy the documents needed to stay and work in Thailand. The most significant difference between the two groups seems to be money and connections, and in some cases the willingness to do what must be done to acquire those assets.

There is little difference regading money and power. Those poor who are ethnic Burmese tend to have government IDs and are able to enter Thailand as "guest workers". Those who are minorities (e.g., Karen, Karenni) are placed into refugee camps inside of Thailand and IDP camps on the other side of the border. The refugee camps inside of Thailand, like Mae Surin or Mae La, look like large compressed villages. The housing is the same as one finds in the minority villages although these are large town populations in the case of Mae Surin, or even large city populations in the case of Mae La. These camps are not pleasant places, but the discomforrt is more from a psychological perspective than a physical perspective. They are relatively clean, there is no famine, there are no real epidemics, but there is really no future either except for the NGO workers in the camps who are moving up their career ladders. The NGO workers I have met can spend a few years working in the camps, but I doubt they could spend more than a day or two living in a traditional poor highland village. I have seen more poor health, more poorly dressed children, and more poverty in the more isolated Karen villages well inside of Thailand than I saw in the refugee camps.

[Konini]

What a truly horrible thing to happen. If only some good could come out of it.

[george]

Rescuers reach Thai refugee camp after deadly blaze

by Nicolas Asfouri

MAE SURIN, Thailand, March 23, 2013 (AFP) -- Thai rescue workers picked through the ashes of hundreds of shelters for Myanmar refugees Saturday after a ferocious blaze swept through a camp in northern Thailand killing 35 people.

Around 100 people were injured in Friday's fire at the Mae Surin camp in Mae Hong Son province, provincial governor Narumol Paravat told AFP by telephone, giving a reduced toll from the 45 dead previously stated.

"The final death toll is 35. There was confusion in the body count," she said.

Only a handful of homes survived the inferno, according to an AFP photographer at the scene, who said some refugees had already started cutting bamboo to build new shelters.

Aerial footage of the area shown on Thai television showed huge swathes of the camp completely incinerated.

The blaze is believed to have destroyed 400 houses and left over two thousand people homeless at the remote mountainous camp.

"All of (the) dead bodies I saw this morning are burnt beyond recognition," a spokesman from the provincial authorities told AFP.

Authorities believe the fire was sparked by an unattended cooking flame.

A local district official said hot weather combined with strong winds had caused the fire to spread quickly among the thatched bamboo shelters.

Women, children and the elderly are believed to make up the majority of the victims.

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said it was rushing to provide plastic sheets, bed mats and other resources to make emergency shelters.

"We are deeply saddened by this tragic incident and doing what we can to provide instant relief," said the UNHCR's Thailand representative Mireille Girard in a statement.

The Interior Ministry's Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Bureau said a school, clinic and two food warehouses had also been destroyed.

The Thai government pledged an investigation into the fire at the camp, which was set up in 1992 and houses roughly 3,500 refugees.

Ten camps strung out along the Thai-Myanmar border are home to a total of about 130,000 people, who first began arriving in the 1980s.

Many of the refugees have fled conflict zones in ethnic areas of Myanmar, also known as Burma.

Families often live cheek-by-jowl in simple bamboo-and-thatch dwellings.

Many of the camp's residents have been registered with the UN as refugees, and an ongoing resettlement programme has allowed tens of thousands to move to other countries.

After a new quasi-civilian government replaced the long-ruling junta in Myanmar two years ago, Thailand announced it wanted to shut the border camps, raising concern among their residents.

But so far they have been allowed to stay and the Thai government has stressed that it will only send them back when it is safe to do so.

Many of the refugees are from Myanmar's eastern Karen state, where a major rebel group, the Karen National Union (KNU) signed a ceasefire deal with the new regime last year after decades of civil war.

Vast numbers of people fled the former Myanmar junta's counter-insurgency campaign, which rights groups say deliberately targeted civilians, driving them from their homes, destroying villages and forcing them to work for the army.

Years of war have left the Karen region littered with landmines while development has been held back, leaving dilapidated infrastructure and threadbare education and health services.

Hundreds of homes were destroyed at a different border camp in February last year by a fire that the authorities also blamed on cooking.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2013-03-23

[zakk9]

Your point though is that there is room here for these people, after all, they are already in Thailand albeit cooped up like cattle in a field.

In Mae Sot, the situation is absolutely absurd. On one side, you have the refugee camps with Burmese who are not allowed to enter "Thailand proper", while closer to the official border crossing, Burmese who have managed to acquire Burmese id papers can buy the documents needed to stay and work in Thailand. The most significant difference between the two groups seems to be money and connections, and in some cases the willingness to do what must be done to acquire those assets.

There is little difference regading money and power. Those poor who are ethnic Burmese tend to have government IDs and are able to enter Thailand as "guest workers". Those who are minorities (e.g., Karen, Karenni) are placed into refugee camps inside of Thailand and IDP camps on the other side of the border. The refugee camps inside of Thailand, like Mae Surin or Mae La, look like large compressed villages. The housing is the same as one finds in the minority villages although these are large town populations in the case of Mae Surin, or even large city populations in the case of Mae La. These camps are not pleasant places, but the discomforrt is more from a psychological perspective than a physical perspective. They are relatively clean, there is no famine, there are no real epidemics, but there is really no future either except for the NGO workers in the camps who are moving up their career ladders. The NGO workers I have met can spend a few years working in the camps, but I doubt they could spend more than a day or two living in a traditional poor highland village. I have seen more poor health, more poorly dressed children, and more poverty in the more isolated Karen villages well inside of Thailand than I saw in the refugee camps.

Myanmar government IDs can be ordered/bought from agents on the Thai side of the border. They are supposed to be legit and are accepted by Thai authorities, but I know of at least a couple of people (Shan/Tai Yai) who got IDs with names and birth dates that were clearly incorrect. Not that it matters. Many of them have been here for ages and have taken Thai names anyway. Some are fluent in Thai but don't speak a word Burmese, except their local language/dialect, which means they have even less of a future in Myanmar than in Thailand.

[webfact]

UN staff to aid survivors after refugee-camp fire
Waratthaya Chailangkarn
Somjit Roongcharmrassami
Tanpisit Lerdbamrungchai



Those who escaped inferno - including many children - left traumatised, aid groups say; victim identification ongoing

MAE HONG SON: --The UN refugee agency will dispatch social workers to assist refugees affected by a fire that claimed at least 36 lives and destroyed hundreds of dwellings at a camp in Mae Hong Son's Khun Yuam district on Friday.

The inferno has left many survivors scarred, especially children and the elderly. More than 100 refugees were injured in the incident. Four of the injured refugees are in critical condition.

The UNHCR will seek support from the government to station Thai social workers at the camp, which shelters about 3,700 refugees, most of whom are Christians.

Htoowea Lweh, a member of the Karenni Refugee Committee, said most of the elderly refugees and children had been left traumatised. Her team needs to talk with them and help them to recover, she said.

"We have found that most of the children are shaken. They do not leave their parents' sides. And they are still frightened after the devastating fire," she said. About 520 children aged less than 5 live in the camp.

Interior Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan said yesterday that the bodies of most of the dead were found near the cliffs or in the hills near the camp. "We will draw up a proper plan to prevent such an incident from recurring," he said.

The process of identifying the victims has already begun. A total of 23 bodies had been identified as of press time.

Police and doctors expected to identify 13 more very soon. "But if DNA tests are needed, officials may need more time. The results will be available within seven days in that case," Charupong said.

Police Bureau Region 5 deputy commissioner Pol Maj-General Chamnan Ruadrew said the number of people killed in the fire was confirmed at 36. According to the latest report from the Mae Hong Son Public Health Office, however, 36 refugees were killed and one was still missing.

The Public Health Ministry has dispatched communicable disease control officials, sanitation officers, psychologists, psychiatrists, medical units, food and water to assist the refugees. More than 500 mosquito nets treated with pyrethroid have been distributed to the refugees to prevent them from contracting malaria.

Health Minister Dr Pradit Sinthawanarong said officials dispatched to the camp will monitor the situation to prevent the spread of communicable diseases borne by insects such as mosquitoes.

Psychiatrists and psychologists from Khun Yuam Hospital, Sri Sangwan Hospital and Thanyarak Hospital in Mae Hong Son and a team of interpreters will be working to screen refugees and rehabilitate those who are in need of help.

A team of medical personnel from Khun Yuam Hospital will also provide treatment for the victims.

Of the injured, two were being treated at Maharat Hospital in Chiang Mai and seven at Mae Hong Son Hospital.

A centre to accept public donations has been established in Mae Hong Son provincial hall and at every district hall in the province. Donations are being accepted via Krung Thai Bank's Mae Hong Son branch, account number 508-0-256-109.

Mae Hong Son Governor Naruemol Palwat said the province is assisting the refugees by providing food, distributing 800 tents with support from the UNHCR, facilitating medical assistance provided by the International Red Cross and medical teams from Mae Hong Son province.

Armed Forces Development commissioner General Sommai Kaodira said his unit has sent mobile kitchens and water trucks to help the affected refugees.

The disaster, which has left more than 2,300 refugees homeless, is believed to have started when a cooking fire got out of control.


-- The Nation 2013-03-25

[canuckamuck]

A very tragic event but hopefully will bring the plight of these people to international attention at least for a while. It is a very complicated situation. Some people can be in these camps for decades. The best answer would be for the Burmese nation to overthrow their government and give the once proud Karen people their homeland back. But perhaps there is a slow positive change now occurring.

The current regime in Burma considers non ethnic Burmese to be greatly beneath them. The Karen land has many resources, but the government is not of a mind to share. They prefer to raze villages, and then murder and steal.

The situation on the Burmese side of the border is different than in the Thai camps. Many more people live in hidden temporary forest villages, unable to farm in an open fashion because they are running from soldiers who have frequently burned their villages and taken children to be soldiers against their will. Sometimes to be used as human mine detectors. There is extreme poverty in these villages the people are reduced to foraging, clothing, food and medicine must be smuggled in through kilometers of mountains and minefields.

[puck2]

What happened there is very, very sad, it's heart aching and the official story is simply unbelievable, at least from my view point.

In Pattaya it's dangerous for foreigners to go on the balcony, in refugee camps it seems to be dangerous to start cooking.

Using these sarcastic words means there are some incredible facts:
- there have been fires in refugee camps before, but without casualties. Why here in this camp so many casualties?
- even if the fire spread very fast and the huts are so near to each other there should have been enough time for the dwellers to escape the fire.
- have in mind that Thai officials don't have the intellectual genes of Einstein, the guts of a biblical David or a highly developed quality of responsability in general.
- I had my own eyperience with the RFD from Mae Sarieng. When building our house 2 officials appeard starting small talk. But I interrupted them pointing with my finger to the backgrand where you could hear, see and smell the forest fire approaching on the slope. I asked them if that was the reason for their appearence. The fat one with sun glasses followed me a little bit when I urged him to do or organise something against the fire (at that time I was very naive). My words went into his right ear and susequently left the opposit ear with any traces in his brain. While I vehemently ask him to be swift to react the other officer had nothing else but money in his brain asking for 5.000 THB. Why? Yes, he saw some wooden boards. Before we showed him the invoice from CM with the stamp from the office I told him to think of his duty as forest officer and do something to kill the forest fire. Nothing of the sort, not at all - Baht blinking lights in the eyes.
I recount this story to underline the credibility, activity and the competence of this office.

However, officials from the RFD and the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, which oversee forest land in Khun Yuam district, believe the fire started inside the camp

Edited March 25, 2013 by puck2

[Joyeuss]

If the Thai authorities did not keep the refugees locked up like animals, maybe there would have been no casulties ?? "I don't care if you are burning or not, without the correct paperwork you are not entering the Kingdom!"

May those poor peoples souls rest in peace.

So what do you want us to do? open all our borders and let all the elements move freely in the country. immediately send them back to where they came from? give some logical suggestions.

Its one of those horrible situations. They can't stay where they were born because of terrible circumstances so they leave to seek refuge. But the toughest and saddest part of the situation is that other countries can't just accept everyone that crosses their borders or who wish to cross the boarders. It is such a touchy topic. Each country still has to think of what is best for itself. It is like beggars on the street, you can only help them so much, you give them something to help in someway but if you give them everything you've got then you will be the one of the street begging and they will be the ones giving money to help. It is a horrible world of survival of the fittest. Some thrive and some don't. Like they say it is a cruel cruel world.

I am not by any means saying that I don't care about what has happened, my heart goes out everyone that unfortunately died and to all of those who must now live with the pain. Let's just hope that there will be enough support from volunteers and the government to help rebuild these peoples lives in someway.

[Joyeuss]

If the Thai authorities did not keep the refugees locked up like animals, maybe there would have been no casulties ?? "I don't care if you are burning or not, without the correct paperwork you are not entering the Kingdom!"

May those poor peoples souls rest in peace.

So what do you want us to do? open all our borders and let all the elements move freely in the country. immediately send them back to where they came from? give some logical suggestions.

Suggestions? OK, Thailand could be like the UK and open up our borders to everyone, and give them benefits, housing, free medical attention etc and let the taxpayers fund it all. Seriously, I hope the authorities find the people responsible for this tragedy. Thailand does not treat us Westerners well, but they have the right idea not letting all the emigrants settle in the country as they do in the UK.

You do realise that western countries have refugee camps as well!? That are not exactly nice to live in. Many people die in them, many people spend most of their life in them. It is not a simple become a refugee and then get benefits from the country. It is the same in all countries, developed or developing.

A country or a person has to look after themselves in order to look after others, if they don't put their own stability first then how are they meant to help stabilise and support other peoples lives. Where do you think those benefits come from? Taxes, so if you want to let people into the country to look after them and provide assylem, then you need to be able to have the money from taxes in order to provide. Too many people come in and then the tax goes up. Many people are already paying 30% tax and some 50% (in Aus). They still have to be able to live as well. Economy is a fragile fragile thing of balance.

[wilcopops]

Countries ae legally and morally obliged to look after refugees and immigrant - the 2 are not necessarily the same.

Thailand's shortcomings are blatantly displayed for all to see in the way they turn Karen - into a tourist attraction in a camp at Pattaya, so long as this attiude prevails Thailand will be at odds with humanity on this.

[Konini]

Going off on a tangent with the way refugees are treated -the navy towing boats back out into open water; isn't this illegal? It's certainly immoral. There was a huge outcry in Aus a few years ago with something similar, but nobody seems to care. These are people. Humans. They didn't choose to be born in the shadowlands. Many things in LOS make me shake my head, but this is different. They are humans. They deserve something better.

What can we do?