Morgan Hagar, USA
Why Go Home

History has shown that every war comes with high costs, the effect of which persists for decades, if not generations, and Myanmar (Burma) is no exception. Born from the aftermath of World War II, a decade-old humanitarian nightmare still affects hundreds of thousands of refugees and other Internally Displaced People (IDPs) along the border with Thailand.

Since its independence from the United Kingdom in 1948, grudges between the pro-Japanese and Allied army groups, separated by religious and ethnic differences, continue to divide the country.

Of the many groups inside Burma fighting to preserve what is left of their land, and in many cases, their lives, the ethnic Karen find themselves on the forefront of the villages being razed, of land and livestock being stolen, of women being raped and men being forced into slave labour of people being used as human mine-sweepers or the victims of cold-blooded execution.

The State Peace and Development Council, the military junta that controls the country, has been called on by leading non-governmental organisations, the United Nations and many governments throughout the world to halt its social, political and military campaign against ethnic and religious minorities within its borders. Still, all to no avail.

The prospects of those who choose to flee are grim. If they survive the gauntlet of army patrols, an untold number of landmines and miles of inhospitable countryside, what awaits them is a dead-end life inside and IDP canp or one of the handful of refugee camps in Thailand.

Even though they have few opportunities for work, citizenship or even basic human rights in Thailand, many refugees are unwilling to return to Myanmar. After years of fighting and oppression that have produced the horrid circumstances from which they fled, they see no reason now, or even in the foreseeable future, as to why they should return home.