January 16, 2009 ·
KM44 school: parents and students chased away
The 44 km school, which is supported by HWF, is a little bamboo hut with concrete floor. At the moment four teachers teach 145 students of different ages. The school building is located directly in a little migrant village that has arisen in the last years. These people from Burma found work and received permission to build their bamboo huts on the land of a Thai farmer. All in all, the village houses 60 families. Approximately 150 of them work as farm labour. Unfortunately, only 50 of them have a work permit, which is very difficult to get for Burmese migrants. Most of these people have illegally emigrated from Burma to find work and a safe place in Thailand.
On the morning of the 14th of January 2009 the Thai military came to the village and forced the people to leave their homes accusing the villagers of supporting drug and people trafficking. Another challenge of the soldiers was to close the school. They threatened to destroy the school if the people would not obey.
The villagers started immediately with the destruction of their houses and fled, with only their most necessary belongings, into the jungle. 43 of the 145 students that attend the 44 km school, went with their parents into the jungle. The consequence is that the students cannot continue to go to school.
A climatic factor dramatizes this difficult situation enormously. Since a couple of weeks a long lasting cold period is prevailing all around Asia. This means that that people who usually are accustomed to tropical climatic circumstances, have to survive very cold nights, where the temperature can sink to freezing point.
The four teachers decided and communicated to the parents of the students, to stop teaching in the school for four days. After that they’ll see for how many children it’s possible to walk to school through the jungle.
The HWF team was at the school for a visit just one day before this happened. The day after, when the incoming call reached the HWF office, that the Thai military were forcing them to flee, the HWF team immediately returned to the village.
To support the people, HWF gives an emergency set to every student’s family. This set (one mosquito net, a blanket and a sleeping mat) should help the people to make the cold nights in the jungle more bearable.
The international NGO Basic Health Care Unit is also taking care of the displaced people.http://www.helpwithoutfrontiers.org/aktuelles/aktuell.php?id=535&lang=e
The 44 km school, which is supported by HWF, is a little bamboo hut with concrete floor. At the moment four teachers teach 145 students of different ages. The school building is located directly in a little migrant village that has arisen in the last years. These people from Burma found work and received permission to build their bamboo huts on the land of a Thai farmer. All in all, the village houses 60 families. Approximately 150 of them work as farm labour. Unfortunately, only 50 of them have a work permit, which is very difficult to get for Burmese migrants. Most of these people have illegally emigrated from Burma to find work and a safe place in Thailand.
On the morning of the 14th of January 2009 the Thai military came to the village and forced the people to leave their homes accusing the villagers of supporting drug and people trafficking. Another challenge of the soldiers was to close the school. They threatened to destroy the school if the people would not obey.
The villagers started immediately with the destruction of their houses and fled, with only their most necessary belongings, into the jungle. 43 of the 145 students that attend the 44 km school, went with their parents into the jungle. The consequence is that the students cannot continue to go to school.
A climatic factor dramatizes this difficult situation enormously. Since a couple of weeks a long lasting cold period is prevailing all around Asia. This means that that people who usually are accustomed to tropical climatic circumstances, have to survive very cold nights, where the temperature can sink to freezing point.
The four teachers decided and communicated to the parents of the students, to stop teaching in the school for four days. After that they’ll see for how many children it’s possible to walk to school through the jungle.
The HWF team was at the school for a visit just one day before this happened. The day after, when the incoming call reached the HWF office, that the Thai military were forcing them to flee, the HWF team immediately returned to the village.
To support the people, HWF gives an emergency set to every student’s family. This set (one mosquito net, a blanket and a sleeping mat) should help the people to make the cold nights in the jungle more bearable.
The international NGO Basic Health Care Unit is also taking care of the displaced people.http://www.helpwithoutfrontiers.org/aktuelles/aktuell.php?id=535&lang=e
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