Beth Adam Letters From Afar - Asia

On Monday, 10/29 Christina Fink, author or “Living Silence” spoke to us about Burma in orde to orient us to the situation within the country as well as what is happening in the border areas.  Since 1962

Burma has been controlled by a military junta. This junta has been and continues to be completely repressive and cruel. 

Burmais made up of many ethnic groups. The Burmans make up close to 70% of the population and the balance is made up from Shan, Karen, Rakhine, Chinese, Mon and others. Many of the ethnic peoples live along the border areas and are literally tribal and living in jungle villages. The borders between Burma, Thailand and

Laos are disputed and the ethnic groups/armies serve as a buffer. The ethnic peoples are anti-communist and the Thai government doesn’t want a merger of Thai and Burmese communists. There has been a historical “sacking” of the Thais by the Burmese and this has created a mythology and the Thais do not want armed conflict with the Burmese. Burma is a former British colony and gained independence from

Britainin 1948 (sound familiar?). The ethnic autonomy movement began in 1948 and the ethnic Karen people have been at war with the central Burmese government continuously since 1949. There have been ceasefires with the other ethnic groups but not peace. The military junta took power in 1962 and all business’ were nationalized at that time. The military junta is very cruel and repressive. There has been no economic or other planning. It is common for the junta to conscript people into forced labor. Also, children as young as 10 years old are forcefully brought into the military in order to increase the numbers and further control the population. Since the junta controls all monies, the military, except for the Generals do not pay the soldiers and instruct the soldiers to “make due” in any way they see fit. This includes taking over rural villages and hill tribe ethnic areas, stealing their food and homes. This, as well as other activities has caused mass migrations of people into the jungle and to the border areas of

Thailand. The problems today consist of a struggle for ethnic autonomy and to restore democracy in a continuously worsening economic situation.

Burma’s population is 47 million and for millions, malnutrition, lack of access to healthcare, and complete personal and political repression is the norm. Most of the population is either too poor or too isolated to have a voice in change since their main “occupation” is simply survival. In Burma, 10% of children die before reaching the age of 5 as opposed to 2% in

Thailand. A woman has a 1 in 75 chance of dying in childbirth as opposed to 1 in 900 in

Thailand. The Thai-Burma border is 1400 miles long and is disputed in areas. Heroin and methamphetamine cross freely over the border and drug use is a big problem in this part of the world. Thailand also gets much of it’s energy from Burma to the tune of $2 billion, which is 40% of

Burma’s total exports. Thailand is

Burma’s largest trade partner. China is also a very large trade partner and because of these “partnerships”, neither Thailand nor

China apply any serious pressure on the military government.

For Burmese living in

Thailand, there are 140,000 refugees who have some degree of safety but live with many restrictions. There are around 1000 activists who have no legal status and 2 million migrant workers (only 10% of whom are registered) who are subject to human trafficking and exploitation. Many of these groups do not speak the Thai language, are isolated, and have no access to human services. Refugee camps in

Thailand were first established in 1984. Residents of these camps are literally people without a country and receive only basic needs.

 

Wow…what a busy, interesting, and emotional 5 days. Sorry for not posting earlier but we have been on the go from early morning to late evening every day and honestly, given the schedule and the jet lag I am now just getting to it. After my last posting, I flew 14+ hours from LA to Taipei and immediately caught my next 3 1/2 hour flight to Bangkok. I arrived in Bangkok at 2am and took a room at the airport hotel. My flight to Chang Rai was the next day (or technically the same day) at 1PM. Unfortunately, sleep did not really come at all so I stared at the ceiling until about 6am and finally fell asleep. My cell phone rang at 8:15am and that’s “all she wrote” as far as sleep is concerned. In any event, I caught the flight and arrived in the Chang Rai airport at about 3PM. Unbeknownst to me, there were 4 other study tour participants on the same flight. We were picked up  by our AJWS tour service and then drove to a beautiful hotel about 1 hour away that sits right at the Golden Triangle. For you geography buffs, the Golden Triangle sits at the intersection of Thailand, Burma (Myannmar), and Laos and is on the Mekong River. This used to be the source for the majority of opium and heroin production and there is actually quite a fine museum close to our hotel…the Opium Museum. My room overlooked the Mekong River, Burma and Laos. The area is extremely mountainous and rugged and is composed of very dense rain forest. After arriving, we had a welcome dinner where I met the other 12 tour participants and 4 AJWS staff members. I was fortunate to sit at dinner with our speaker for the next morning, Christina Fink. She is an American author married to a Burmese activist and lives in Thailand. I read her book, “Living Silence” prior to the trip and found both the book and the author very enlightening about the history and current events of Burma. The area is just beautiful. As I was to learn in the upcoming days, underlying the outward beauty of this area is a human rights and social justice crisis that has existed continuously since 1949 with additional significant events occuring in 1962, 1988, and again this month. This week has been a first hand and up close look at the complex history, politics, and issues as well as the people and organizations working for change.

Hi everyone! I’ve completed the first leg of my journey and am now at LAX. Coming into LA, the smoke is very thick and fires are still visible from the air. My route for the trip is CVG - LAX - Taipei - Bangkok - Chang Rai. I left Cincinnati at 9am today (Friday) and arrive in Chang Rai Thailand at 3PM on Sunday. AJWS is an international development organization motivated by Judaism’s imperative to pursue justice. Through grants to grassroots organizations, volunteer service, advocacy and education, AJWS fosters civil society, sustainable development and human rights for all people, while promoting the values and responsibilities of global citizenship within the Jewish community. The group meets up in Chang Rai Sunday night and Monday morning we visit the Golden Triangle (borders Thailand, Burma, and Laos) and meet with grantees of AJWS. Stay tuned for my (hopefully) daily entrys and pictures…from afar.