Post Tsunami problems for Burmese migrant workers

[Yappofloyd]

The article below clearly reminds us that the ongoing effects of the Tsunami for some are particularly tragic. It seems that many around the world would not be aware of the difficulties faced by Burmese migrant workers. It is worth remembering that, as with migrant workers the world over, Burmese are paid minuscule amounts (often 50-80 baht a day which makes the Thai minimum wage, set by Province, of 165 – 190 look pretty decent!), often work very long hours and live in constant fear of being sent home by the employer. Many of the 'sweatshops' in the Tak area have been criticized having conditions more akin to involuntary servitude.

It was initially estimated that some 2000 Burmese migrant workers were killed in the Tsunami, (Source Bangkok Post and BBC 11/02/05) but the exact number will of course not be known and forensic identification will be near impossible. I wouldn't be surprised if there are a large amount of unclaimed bodies once the DVI identification process is complete as the article infers.

A UN mission in Feb. was sent to ascertain the extent of the problem and UN agencies are working with closely with Thai authorities to ensure relevant assistance is provided. Even NGOs, such as MSF and World Vision who have worked in the area for years, had problems in accessing and assisting the migrants. WV even had 3 of their thai staff, including a doctor, locked in a cage for several hours by local fishermen in Ban Thab Lamu village (Phang Nga) as the fisherman were worried that the Burmese workers were going to be repatriated by the WV staff and thus result in a shortage of workers(Source Bangkok Post, 13/01/05).

A useful website for more info. here

[Yappofloyd]

TSUNAMI AFTERMATH / HELP OR HURT? An uncertain future

Burmese migrant workers who survived the tsunami have not only been forgotten, they have also been treated as if they were criminals
Story by SANITSUDA EKACHAI , Bangkok Post, Outlook, 16/03/05

The children suffer most from the ethnic prejudices that force their parents to stay in hiding. He almost lost his life in the killer waves. He's been hiding in the hills, struggling with hunger for weeks. He is now jobless and doesn't know what the future holds. Yet he says he's lucky.

"My wife survived too," said Mo So Or, 42, a soft-spoken Burmese migrant worker at the Pakarang Jut, a badly-hit area in Phangnga province. "At least we can still be together."

The man's endurance may seem astounding, but when most people he knows are not only facing the same hardships but are also shattered by grief over the tragic losses of loved ones _ and without any opportunity to retrieve their bodies for religious ceremonies _ Mo So Or feels he has no right to complain.

The tsunami horror remains vivid in his mind. "I was working at the construction site by the beach at the Pakarang Jut," he recalled. After 18 years of working in Thailand as a construction worker, he spoke fluent Thai. "I was hit hard by the waves but I survived. At first we were afraid of new waves, so we hid in the rubber plantations on the hills _ some 200 of us in just one spot.

"We tried to return to our old work camp, but the police started rounding people up to send them back to Burma. I saw them arresting people with my own eyes. So we had to run and live in hiding again. We were afraid of the waves, of the police, of everything.


Migrant workers face hunger and joblessness after the tsunami tragedy.
"I really felt sorry for the small kids. We had no food, no water, no shelter, no medicine. We had to sleep under the trees, without any mosquito nets for the children.

"Some of us were in deep shock. Some were sick. Many lost their children, their wives, their husbands. They could not return to the sites to find the bodies of their loved ones, so they felt very sad, very depressed."

The deportation spree that forced migrant workers in Phangnga into hiding was triggered by rumours and news reports, based on ethnic prejudices, that Burmese migrant workers were looting tsunami-hit properties.

"Instead of arresting the culprits, the authorities treat all Burmese migrant workers as criminals, rounding them up for forced deportation although many of them are registered workers fully entitled to help like other tsunami victims," said rights activist Adisorn Kerdmongkol. "This is outrageous."

Before the tsunami, the worst-hit Khao Lak area was a booming tourist site as well as a big fishery spot in Phangnga province. It was also a haven of Burmese migrant workers who offered cheap labour to build the town, service the tourist industry and bring in the fishes from the deep seas.

Burmese come from their hiding places to receive donated food and other basic necessities. There were about 90 fishing boats in one village of Ban Nam Khem alone. Each boat carried about 30-40 Burmese crew members. In their Little Burma, many fishing crew members had their families with them. Many women worked on fish selection and cleaning to supplement the family income. Other young Burmese girls worked to entertain exhausted single crew members in a karaoke bar filled with Burmese songs.

On the morning of December 26, the whole community was swept away.
No one knows exactly how many Burmese workers perished that day, not only at Ban Nam Khem but also in the six tsunami-hit provinces. "I saw people dead all over the place," recalled Sa Meh, 25, who worked at Ban Nam Khem for nine years before the tsunami.

"I saw so many bodies of children. At least 200 of them. There were deaths in every family. When we went back to retrieve the dead bodies, the officials would not allow us to do so. They took all the bodies to the temples. We were too afraid to go there."

There are about 120,000 registered Burmese workers in the six tsunami-hit provinces. In Phangnga, the worst-ravaged province, there were about 30,000 registered workers. Some 7,000 worked in the severely damaged areas of Takuapa and Khao Lak.

A worker sits with his food stuff, which will last about a week.
Both the workers and rights activists said the number of registered workers make up only half of the real figure. Out of nearly 5,400 killed by the tsunami, some 3,000 Asian bodies remain unidentified. No one knows how many might be Burmese migrant workers.

While there are officially about 3,000 missing persons, rights activists say the figures do not include the missing Burmese because they cover only those reported by their relatives. The Burmese workers were in hiding at that time, too fearful to report their missing family members. (Cont. below...)

[Yappofloyd]

Cont....
According to the Human Rights Education Institute of Burma, which is helping migrant workers in Phangnga and Phuket, there are at least 700 to 1,000 Burmese dead. For the time being, the worst is over.

The authorities have stopped the arrest and deportation after rights groups brought the Burmese plight out into the open and pleaded for more humane treatment. Yet at least 2,000 had already been forcibly deported. Many complained of extortion from officials on both sides of the border.

After the arrests ceased, the Tsunami Action Group, a coalition of rights organisations, stepped up distribution of food and other basic necessities to migrant workers still scattered in various hiding places. "One of the things they asked for was a chance to perform religious ceremonies for their dead relatives," said Htoo Chit, coordinator of the Grassroots Human Rights Education and Development Committee (Burma). "We help them do that as part of their spiritual healing."

As things have eased up, many have started to return to their old sites seeking jobs. Mothers and children who survived the tsunami still face an uncertain future in Thailand. "Since many have lost their labour registration cards, we also helped them have their cards reissued," said Kanchana Dee-ut of the Tsunami Action Group.

It's been an uphill task. The majority of registered workers only have photocopies of their registration papers because the real ID cards were not yet ready. Bosses normally kept original papers to prevent workers from running away. Most workers, however, lost their documents in the killer waves. Many of their bosses also died so there was no way to retrieve the original papers.

Meanwhile, the authorities initially demanded that the workers come up with the 13-digit ID numbers on their papers _ a near-impossible request _ before the searching for their identification papers could begin. Thanks to an online database, the officials finally agreed to use the workers' name to search for their ID and to reissue registration papers. Lack of personnel and Burmese interpreters at the district office, however, has made the process extremely slow. So far, only 200 Burmese migrant workers have had their registration papers and their universal health care cards reissued.

"It's still a very small number," said Kanchana. "There are still a lot of workers out there who need their papers back. And there are still a lot of unregistered workers who are very vulnerable to labour abuse, arrest and extortion." Many who fled the tsunami scare to other districts or those who were forcibly deported are now facing more legal difficulties in their quest to return to work. According to the law, migrant workers who leave their designated areas automatically lose their legal status and right to stay.
"But the tsunami wasn't a normal situation, so the law should be relaxed and the migrant workers should be allowed to have their registration cards reissued," said Adisorn Kerdmongkol of Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma.

There is also little chance for migrant workers to retrieve the bodies of their dead relatives _ the authorities request DNA and dental records which the Burmese cannot produce. They also ask for embassy papers to prove their relatives' identities, which they also cannot produce, said Pranom Somwong of the Migrant Action Programme, an advocacy group.

"They are afraid of being arrested for crossing the border to work in Thailand," she explained. The hurdles seem endless. For the Burmese migrant workers, however, survival remains the name of the game.

After the killer waves receded, Sa Meh left Ban Nam Khem in shock, taking her four-year-old daughter back to her home village in Tavoy on the other side of the border. A few weeks later, she returned to find work although remnants of death and destruction were still everywhere at Ban Nam Khem.
"There is no choice," she says matter-of-factly. "There is no work at home, no way to support my family." But jobs are scarce and the Phangnga tourism-related industries remain in shock.

At a shoddy rowhouse surrounded by debris at Ban Nam Khem, Lu Huang, 28, breastfed her 10-month old baby, seemingly unperturbed by their uncertain future. A group of workers sat idly by, waiting to be called by any employer in need of their labour. They all agreed that life was bitter in Thailand, but that it was better than at home. "When I saw people donating stuff to help tsunami victims on TV, I felt so sad," said Sor, 18, from Moulemein. "Why haven't we received help too?"

Nearby, six-year-old Mo clung to his mother, Waen, 42, also from Tavoy. "I saved her life, you know," he reported proudly. "I saw the first wave _ it was so high and so dark _ so I ran to tell my mother to run."The boy added that he was still afraid of the sea.

Like other children of Burmese migrant workers, Mo has no chance of getting an education and will grow up to become the next generation of cheap labour. He does not seem to care. "I want to weave fishing nets for a living when I grow up. I don't want to go to school. I want to take care of my mother. She is weak. She needs me," said the boy as his mother lovingly caressed his hair. Life, said Mo So Or stoically, was never easy. "At home, we have no land, no jobs, no safety. The soldiers are terrorising us. Here, we at least have a chance to work, to save and send money to our poor relatives back home."

Mo So Or's tiny, sinewy frame makes him look like a prune _ the result of a lifetime of hard work. When he heaves a deep sigh, fearing for the uncertainties ahead, his body seems even smaller. "All we need now is work so that we can start to take care of our families," he said. "We also need safety. We need to know we can work and live here without fear. Just that, and we can struggle through."

[Yappofloyd]

Whilst it looks as though there may be another Tsunami in the area tonight I thought I'd just mention the following UN site, http://www.un.or.th/tsunami/, with many impact assessment reports . The site is updated regularly and has many maps....

[Yappofloyd]

TSUNAMI AFTERMATH / GETTING LIVES BACK TOGETHER
Aid trucks on way to help Burmese migrants ACHARA ASHAYAGACHAT
(BKK POST 06/04/05)

Two trucks carrying more than 14 tonnes of humanitarian aid left Bangkok yesterday to help tsunami-affected Burmese migrants in Ranong, Phangnga and Phuket provinces.

At least 7,000 Burmese migrant workers and their dependents, most of whom worked as hired hands in the fishing, construction and tourism industries, were affected by the tsunami, according to a joint technical assessment mission carried out by the International Organisation of Migration (IOM), the World Bank and UN agencies in January.

The 14.5-tonne shipment of donated goods and other basic essentials, including food items, clothes and medicine, will be distributed by the IOM under the Thai Migrant Health Project (MHP).

The US$1.4 million USAid-funded project, which uses a network of community health workers to reach migrant communities, was launched in 2003 and operates with the help of the Thai Health Ministry.

It responds to primary health care, reproductive health, communicable disease control and environmental sanitation needs of migrants and their Thai host communities on the Thai-Burma border.

Following the tsunami, the MHP received US$800,000 in new funding from the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Unocha), the World Health Organisation and Ireland to expand its scope into the tsunami-ravaged provinces of Ranong and Phangnga.

Yesterday's delivery of humanitarian aid to the area would be channelled through the project's migrant community health workers, who have access to the often marginalised and impoverished migrant communities.

While some 120,000 migrants in the three provinces are registered, many others are undocumented and may be working in Thailand illegally, the IOM said.

[soi_surfer]

this is my first message.

the maps of fault lines show the 'tsunami fault' to run from Sumatra to Nicobar islands to Andaman islands to Myanmar

the reported destruction along & around that fault is massave .. except myanmar.

i have seen no numbers or indicators of damage to the coastal regions of myanmar.

I am trying to ask about tsunami damage to the coastal region of Myanmar

[GWR]

Khunying Pornthip has been heavily critical of the hotel owners in Khao Lak. It seems they made little effort to come forward and try & help the ID of dead Burmese hotel and construction workers; despite many bodies being found in hotel uniforms and carrying hotel keysets.

Some estimates suggest that up to 2,500 Burmese may have perished in Thailand, although the official toll is less than half that. Those who remained alive were fearful of being labelled looters and being herded into camps. So they deliberatedly didn't go to hospital to have wounds treated.

One local VIP described it as scandalous to treat people in this manner, after they had contributed so much to the development of the resort.

[Yappofloyd]

^ Scandalous is perhaps a bit too kind a description in the circumstances.

Moken gypsies left alone without help. Survived tsunami, but now starving, sick ONNUCHA HUTASINGH BKK Post 25/04/05

More than 300 Moken sea gypsies on Lao Island in Ranong survived the Dec 26 tsunami, but have been left battling hunger and poverty alone without state help.This is because the villagers, despite being born on Thai soil, do not hold Thai nationality.

Today the villagers, who live only 3km from downtown Ranong, are starving and weak. Many are ill and dare not go to hospital for they have no money.
The Network for Restoring the Andaman Coastline repaired two of their fishing boats, and the Network of Catholics in Thailand donated rice weighing 5kg to each family. Apart from that, they say they have received little if any help.

``We asked for rice and dried food from the Muang Ranong district, but the officials told us we could come take it only once. That made us feel bad and we decided not to go see them again,'' said Naowanit Jaempit, a Lao Island villager who spoke for the sea gypsies, who can barely speak Thai.

The lack of help for them and negative reactions from state officials are believed to stem from their lack of nationality while the villagers have no idea about their rights. Each year, many Moken women run away from Ranong Hospital shortly after giving birth. Some leave even though they have not fully recovered, because they cannot afford the medical bills. This has led to premature deaths among many Moken mothers.

The infant mortality rate is also high in the community as a result of sanitary problems. Budeh, a Moken teenager here, has no money and has chosen not to see a doctor although he has two big pustules on one of his feet which has been infected for almost a month.

The teenager is among 60 Moken youths studying at Koh Lao School despite the fact they will not obtain certificates after graduation since none has Thai nationality. Mrs Naowanit said only about 10 Moken children attend school each day. Most Moken students are illiterate because their parents feel education is not important and want their children to help them with fishing.

Poverty and ignorance has pushed many Moken people into work for fishing trawlers running illegally in Burmese waters. Many have been shot dead and others incarcerated in Burmese jails. Those who managed to escape were later arrested and jailed in Ranong prison.

After the spate of shootings and arrests, the sea gypsies now dare not go fishing in Burmese waters and choose to earn their living by catching small oysters from the sea in their neighbourhood, which they sell for 30 baht a kilogramme.

Even so, Lady Luck seems to have turned her back on them. Rumours that marine animals ate the corpses of those killed by the tidal waves on Dec 26 have made it difficult for them to sell marine products.

This has forced many Moken people to live their lives as beggars.``I want to have an ID card, a boat and also rice to eat. Please help me. I'm a human being, too,'' said Diew, a representative of the sea gypsies on Lao Island.

The Moken tribe was seen in Burma and Thailand more than a century ago before King Rama VI granted Thai citizenship to all tribes who lived in the kingdom before April 10, 1913. The problem is many missed out from state registration.

Naruemol Arunothai, a researcher of Chulalongkorn University's Social Research Institute, said the Moken are really a primitive tribe. But they have no country or land of their own and live their lives on boats which travel between Burma and Thailand regularly.

Jiraporn Bunnag, deputy secretary-general of the National Security Council, said any Moken people who were born in Thailand must be Thai citizens by birth if the tribe is proven to be indigenous here. She said the Provincial Administration Department was trying to verify the status of all displaced people in the kingdom.

[soi_surfer]

there was another shake, 4.9, on the fault that gos directly up the delta that rangoon sits on.
epicenter was 115 KM from rangoon
epi seems to be directly upon the mouth of the ayeyarwaddy river delta.
http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin/neic_xma7.html
the hard hit andamans are less than 300 KM south on that fault
& yet no reports of significant damage out of the junta.

[Yappofloyd]

A small update at the end of an article on a quake yesterday....

Quake alert leaves Phuket in confusion
Tsunami not ruled out until over an hour later (BKK Post, 06/07/05)
ACHATAYA CHUENNIRUND & ACHARA ASHAYAGACHAT

Phuket _ A lack of clear safety instructions after yesterday morning's earthquake warning left Phuket in a state of confusion while the National Disaster Warning Centre was heavily criticised.

(Main part of article deleted)

Meanwhile, donors and foreign agencies expressed their concern about the plight of tsunami-stricken groups including sea gypsies, migrant workers and orphans with Thai agencies at a co-ordination forum for post tsuanmi recovery yesterday, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

UNDP country director Hakan Bjorkman told the Bangkok Post that of concern were orphans and children who, after six months, remained vulnerable to various abuse and other tsunami victims and their families, especially those who were still unemployed or traumatised.

There was also a suggestion that loans and assistance be provided for the affected groups, including fishermen and SMEs for them to start up small businesses, said Mr Bjorkman.

[Yappofloyd]

The recovery needs the cheap labour...

RECOVERY 'NEEDS MIGRANT WORKERS'
Story by ANUCHA CHAROENPO (BKK Post, 12/07/05)

The fishing industry in tsunami-struck Ban Nam Khem wants the Burmese migrant workers who were rounded up and deported by Thai authorities after the Dec 26 catastrophe to come back. Fishing operators said the migrant workers do not pose a threat to national security, nor do they cause trouble for the community. In fact, they said the Burmese could play a vital role in bringing about economic recovery in areas devastated by the giant waves.

''Without them [Burmese migrant workers], we have no workers to go out to the deep sea to catch fish. As consumers, these workers also help generate income for the community, spending money on food and necessities in the market,'' said Manoch Theppithak, a fishing operator. He said Burmese migrant workers fill a gap left by Thais who have no interest in this kind of hard work.

There were about 1,000 Burmese workers living in the area before the tsunami. A few hundred have returned while the rest are unaccounted for.
''We're glad to see them coming back to the community,'' he said. Mr Manoch said he had about 100 workers before the tsunami, but now there are just 30. Of those, only four have re-registered for work permits while the rest are working illegally.

He said some used to work for him, but were deported after they lost their ID documents in the waves, and the authorities then categorised them as illegal migrants. Mr Manoch said he had yet to register the rest of the workers because the fee of almost 2,000 baht per person is expensive. He called on the government to halve the fee so more employers would be able to comply with the law.

Sompong Phumjan, a fishing operator, said the community has good feelings towards the migrant workers. Mr Sompong said the workers had never harmed Thai people in the community, adding that any quarrels occurred mostly among migrants themselves.

Bew, 24, a Burmese migrant worker who returned after forced deportation, expressed gratitude to the community and his employer for their warm welcome and good attitude toward Burmese. ''I have lived here [Ban Nam Khem] for five years. I feel Thai people are friendly, especially my employer. He is very generous, too,'' Bew said in broken Thai.

A group of Burmese children in the community were happy that they were allowed to return. Nine-year-old May, who came to Thailand at age two, said he got along well with Thai children in the community. ''However, I am still a little jealous of [Thai children] because I want to wear a student uniform and go to school every morning like them,'' he said.

[Yappofloyd]

TSUNAMI'S UNTOLD STORY
Burmese workers paid a high price; got second-class treatment
Story by ANUCHA CHAROENPO (BKK Post, 12/07/05)

Although it has been six months since the killer tsunami waves struck on Dec 26, surviving Burmese migrant workers in a once-bustling fishing village of Ban Nam Khem, one of the worst-hit areas, are still hopeful they will find the dead bodies of their loved ones. ''I still want to see the body of my eight-month-old baby. She was swept away by the tsunami waves while I was holding her in my arms,'' said Yao, a 24-year-old Burmese migrant who has been working in Ban Nam Khem for nine years. ''And I miss her all the time. My wife has cried everyday that she has been gone. The loss of our daughter has ruined our lives,'' he said in fluent Thai.

Yao spent many days walking around the village and area, hoping to locate the body of his baby daughter but the efforts were in vain. He did not dare to go and look for her body at Wat Yan Yao, where thousands of corpses had been kept for post-mortems and identification, because he had lost the ID card confirming his legal status in Thailand.

Critics say Burmese migrant workers who survived the tsunami have been treated unfairly by the authorities. They did not dare to report the disappearance of their loved ones following the disaster because they feared they would be arrested and deported. No one knows exactly how many Burmese migrants workers died in the Dec 26 disaster, but many believe that almost 1,000 Burmese migrants were killed that day in the six tsunami-ravaged provinces on Thailand's Andaman coast.

Recently, 65 Burmese migrant workers in Phangnga went to the one-stop Phuket disaster victim identification (DVI) centre to find out if their 110 missing relatives were among the thousands of bodies kept there. Centre officials took DNA samples from them to check if they matched any of the bodies still unidentified. The DNA testing is still in progress.

Wah, 24, who lost her mother and a four-year-old younger brother, was one of the 65 who contacted the DVI centre. She spent three days looking for them among the bodies kept at the centre but had no success. Then she was deported along with her husband and daughter to Burma's Kauthaung province. After two months in Burma, Wah and her family are now back in Ban Nam Khem. She said they could not find any jobs in their hometown.

[Yappofloyd]

FEAR DEEPENED WOES OF BURMESE MIGRANTS Vital papers washed away with dreams during tsunami Story by ANUCHA CHAROENPO (BKK Post, 18/07/05)

For 30-year-old Burmese migrant Soe Naing, the tsunami that hit the coast of Thailand on Dec 26, 2004 did not just wash away his job, it also left him with an uncertain future. The once healthy young man who entered Thailand illegally about a year ago now has a disability after doctors were forced to amputate his leg from below the knee due to an acute infection. The infection came about following wounds he sustained when the giant waves of the Indian Ocean tsunami struck Phangnga province. He is currently being treated at Takuapa Hospital.

According to doctors, the amputation would not have been necessary had Soe Naing decided to approach them earlier and receive proper medication. ``I dare not see the doctors at that time because of my illegal status. I did not have a work permit, or a health card. That barred me from having access to any of the government's social welfare programmes,'' he said.
Soe Naing had been working as a member of a fishing crew at the port of Tablamu in Phangnga's Muang district.

Instead of seeking help, he decided to try and take care of himself for several months for fear of being arrested and deported. He bought over-the-counter medicine which was inadequate for his medical condition. When his condition began to deteriorate, a group of his Burmese friends approached the Tsunami Action Group (TAG), a non-governmental organisation that provides assistance to Burmese migrant workers affected by the tsunami, for assistance.

His medical bills, which stand at about 90,000 baht, would be covered by Belgium-based Medicines San Frontieres. He only hope that keeps Soe Naing going is the chance to return to his wife and two children in the city of Tavoy in southern Burma. ``As soon as I get an artificial leg, I will go back home. I will find menial jobs or work in the rice fields there. The doctors told me I could leave hospital within two months, I miss my family and my home a lot,'' he said.

Soe Naing is among hundreds of Burmese migrant workers believed to have survived the tsunami catastrophe. Many, like Soe Naing, were injured but refused to see doctors. Most went into hiding as the authorities conducted a series of crackdowns and moved to deport them. ``We have tried to persuade these migrants to see doctors over the past six months but most of them don't dare to come out as they are still afraid of being arrested and deported. Only a few are willing to receive medication from doctors,'' said Sutthiphong Kongkhaphol, a TAG coordinator.

According to Mr Sutthiphong, many legal migrant workers are also facing problems. Although they were registered workers, they had lost their papers when the tsunami struck. Without their identification papers, they could not apply for a work permit, which would provide protection under labour law, had no right to the healthcare system, as well as having no right to stay in the country. ``If they come out without an ID card, they will immediately be classified as illegal migrants, will be arrested and then deported by police,'' he said.

The TAG has been helping such migrant workers to re-apply for their ID cards. So far, 330 workers in Phangnga have now received replacement cards, and have resumed their work. They also have access to the country's healthcare system. The agency also provides financial assistance to families of migrant workers who are jobless. Moe, 34, has to take care of his wife, who suffered serious head injuries after being hurt during the tsunami. She has been left unable to speak after suffering brain damage. She was not able to take care of the baby daughter she delivered just after the tsunami struck.

While her medical bills, totalling one million baht, are covered under labour law, Moe had become penniless as he was not able to leave his wife and go to work. The TAG provides him with a daily stipend to cover his expenses.
`` I must thank the Thai government for paying my wife's medical bills, which we could not afford to pay,'' he said. He plans to take his wife back to his hometown in Tavoy once her condition improves. Then he will return to try and find work again in Thailand, he said. ``There are no well-paid jobs in Burma. My family will starve to death if I stay in Burma,'' he said.

[Yappofloyd]

Helping to relive the suffering of others Sanitsuda Ekachai Bangkok Post 01/12/05

Nearly a year of hardship and anguish after the Dec 26 tsunami, Makwe, a Burmese migrant worker in his thirties, might soon have a chance to sooth his sorrow.If luck is on his side, Makwe might be able to retrieve the body of his wife Hla Hla Newe and to fulfill a husband's duty by giving her a proper religious send-off if the Thailand Tsunami Victims Identification Unit finally has a change of heart, that is.

Makwe was working for a fishing boat at Baan Nam Khem when the killer wave struck, which killed his wife and their little boy. Having lost all official documents and having been accused of being the tsunami looters by the media, fear for arrest and deportation prevented the Burmese workers from showing up in order to claim for the bodies of their loved ones.

Thanks to assistance from right groups, the tsunami victim identification unit has the fingerprints to prove that at least 72 bodies under its care are Burmese migrant workers. Makuai's wife is one of them. Yet he still has little hope of giving his wife a proper farewell.

The Thai authorities - in order to prevent the relatives' chaotic rush to reclaim the bodies during the early stage of the tsunami shock - has set up a rule requiring the relatives of foreign tsunami victims to provide documents from their embassies.

But Makwe and other Burmese workers are no ordinary foreigners. And the Burmese government is no ordinary government. Political repression and economic hardship in Burma has forced poor people to illegally cross the borders for a better life. The junta considers them criminals. There is no way for the Burmese workers to get the necessary embassy papers. No way to collect the bodies of their loved ones.

Now that the body identification unit in Phuket will be closed in mid-December, there have been positive signs from the authorities that they might consider relaxing the rules concerning embassy documents, specially for the Burmese workers, so the bodies can be released to their families. Makwe, for one, is praying for good news.

Nobody knows the exact number of Burmese migrant workers who perished in the Dec 26 tsunami. Early estimates put the figure at over 1,000, since there were about 120,000 registered workers in the six tsunami-hit provinces and 7,000 of them were in the worst-hit areas of Takua Pa and Koh Lak in Phangnga province.

According to Pol Col Khemarin Hassiri, head of the victim identification unit, there remain 966 unidentified bodies. Some 600 of them now await DNA test results from their Thai relatives, meaning that some 300 of them might be migrant Burmese workers. Rights groups, meanwhile, say they have a list of some 250 Burmese families who are looking for their relatives who were killed by the tsunami.

While fingerprints can be used to trace the identities of registered Burmese workers, the fact remains that many of their peers were illegal and undocumented. Lacking fingerprints and family data, only expensive DNA tests can help identify the remaining corpses. If their relatives live across the border, the chance of identifying and releasing the bodies are increasingly slim.

To make up for past heartlessness - what with our arresting and deporting the Burmese workers on sight instead of helping them after the tsunami - we must find better ways to help them retrieve the bodies of their family members. Incidentally, the court has ruled that the five Burmese workers who were arrested and slapped with the looting charge are not guilty. Despite the torment and long detention, they cannot receive their rightful compensation because the police immediately deported them although two of them are registered workers and have the right to stay. How to help these Burmese tsunami survivors? The answer probably lies not on questioning the quality of our rules, but that of our heart.

Sanitsuda Ekachai is Assistant Editor, Bangkok Post.

[Yappofloyd]

According to Pol Col Khemarin Hassiri, head of the victim identification unit, there remain 966 unidentified bodies. Some 600 of them now await DNA test results from their Thai relatives, meaning that some 300 of them might be migrant Burmese workers. Rights groups, meanwhile, say they have a list of some 250 Burmese families who are looking for their relatives who were killed by the tsunami.

The estimates of unclaimed bodies of Burmese migrants vary but I would hazard a guess that the majority of the 422 bodies being buried are Burmese.

Since the Post report from last Dec it would appear that the number from unclaimed bodies with DVI has fallen from 966 with some having been ID'd and others perhaps in the process. However, I would not assume that it is now only 422 as these are likely to be the cases where there is thought to be little prosepect of identification. Hence, the likelyhood that most are Burmese as no family member to provide DNA samples.

422 unidentified tsunami victim bodies buried - Bangkok Post 17/10/06

Phangnga _ The Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) Centre yesterday held a mass burial for 422 unidentified bodies from the tsunami tragedy at Ban Bang Muang cemetery in Takua Pa district. Pol Col Khemmarin Hassiri, chief of DVI, said the unclaimed bodies were embedded with microchips and kept in three-tiered coffins.

He said they were ready to be exhumed any time if relatives turned up to claim them and they had been identified. The burial process is scheduled to be completed by Dec 15 before the planned official opening of the 15-rai Ban Bang Muang cemetery on Dec 26. Pol Col Khemmarin was confident the burial ground would not have any environmental impact on nearby communities.