There is an underlying sadness to Mae La Refugee camp. No matter how beautiful you make it, no matter how much work you do, no matter how happy the people are, a cage is still a cage. The refugees here are for the most part Karen, they belong in Karen state, not Thailand. They want to be in Karen state, they need and want to return home. Maybe at some future date the conditions in Burma will allow them to return.
The people in this camp and others have suffered greatly, they are often separated from their families, they have undergone all kinds of trauma, war, death, rape, loss. That loss, that sadness is part of who they are, it is not something that can be put aside easily or glossed over with a pretty/safe living environment.
The people in this camp and others have suffered greatly, they are often separated from their families, they have undergone all kinds of trauma, war, death, rape, loss. That loss, that sadness is part of who they are, it is not something that can be put aside easily or glossed over with a pretty/safe living environment.
