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USCB Tsunami
Update |
| Thursday,
February 3, 2005
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Dear friends of freedom in Burma,
Thank you very much to everyone who offered
a kind contribution for Burmese tsunami victims
in Thailand through the USCB. So far we have
transferred $12,000 to the relief efforts for
Burmese tsunami survivors in Thailand and will
continue to do so as more checks and donations
come in. The fundraising makes members and supporters
of US Campaign for Burma the single largest
international grassroots donor to the Burmese
Tsunami relief effort in Thailand undertaken
by our colleagues.
We'd like you to know that several NGOs working
in Thailand all joined together to help support
Burmese tsunami survivors—these groups
include the Human Rights Education Institute
for Burma, the MAP Foundation, and Thai Action
Committee for Democracy in Burma, and the Action
Network for Migrants (Thailand). Their coalition,
which we have donated to, is called the Tsunami
Action Group (TAG).
Since providing direct relief aid is outside
the scope of our normal work, we will no longer
send out additional requests to you for donations.
If you would still like to make a donation,
however, you are welcome to do so. As before,
100% of your donation will be sent to Tsunami
relief efforts—just be sure to mark that
clearly on your check or online
donation.
The fundraising effort has been a joint effort
by many caring individuals across the country—we
would like to list all of their names but many
people requested that they remain anonymous
so we will not do so. That said, many caring
Americans and Burmese have worked very hard
to make these donations possible. We acknowledge
the work of every individual who has raised
and/or contributed money during this crisis.
Finally, below is a "Situation Report" from
TAG, the coalition of NGOs that is providing
relief to Burmese in Thailand. İIt explains
how some of the money is being spent and how
they are caring out their relief work. We all
owe TAG a debt of gratitude for serving on the
"front lines" of the relief effort. İThey are
true heroes.
Sincerely,
Aung Din and Jeremy Woodrum
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Tsunami Action
Group (TAG)
Situation Report #3 |
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An update on the situation of Burmese migrant
workers affected by the tsunami in Phang Nga,
southern Thailand.
(29 January 2005)
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Note: We have created a website to provide easy
access to current information on Burmese migrants
in Thailand affected by the tsunami. İPlease
see http://www.saydanatsunami.org/.
İPlease see the link to "A Khao Lak Diary" on
the left banner for information written by the
team in the field.
Our relief efforts have been supported by many
people and organizations. Novib (Oxfam Netherlands)
and the French Catholic Committee Against Hunger
and for Development (CCFD) have been particularly
generous. İAlso of note, we have received $10,000
in donations from the U.S. Campaign for Burma
and we understand that more is forthcoming.
İThey have agreed to accept individual donations
through their website or by post. İThanks to
USCB and all of you who have been generous in
providing us with funds to operate. 100% of
the money that has been sent to the U.S. Campaign
for Burma designated for "Burmese migrants in
Thailand" has come to us here.
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RELIEF |
TAG
teams have distributed rice and basic necessities
and arranged religious ceremonies for the lost
and deceased relatives of migrant families for
around 140 workers affected by the tsunami at
Kuraburi and 1,000 in the Khao Lak area.
Migrants are spread out over a wide area, going
to wherever there is work. Some migrants who
had moved to migrant communities in Kuraburi
from Barn Nam Khem are now moving back to the
Khao Lak area as re-construction of hotels begins
and work becomes available. İMany migrant communities
lack adequate sanitation facilities. The water
tanks in one migrant community we visited had
run dry as the Thai foreman who had previously
arranged the water supply for bathing and washing
clothes had died in the tsunami. The TAG team
arranged for water to be delivered on a regular
basis to water tanks for the migrant community.
Some of the children who experienced the tsunami
are suffering from anxiety, sleeplessness and
nightmares. The TAG team is preparing to provide
children with basic art supplies for children
to be able to draw, paint and play as a form
of expression. Some migrants, particularly women
with children, who have been traumatized by
the tsunami wish to return to their homes in
Burma but are afraid of being deported officially.
Most migrants do not understand that if they
return to Burma they lose their legal status
in Thailand. Some of these migrants wish to
return home permanently, while others are requesting
a respite period to recuperate before returning
to Thailand for work.
One group of migrants has returned to a construction
site after spending 19 days on the mountain-side
for fear of another tsunami. Their employer
supplied them with basic food to survive during
those 19 days.
One organization had supplied some migrant communities
with radios which were greatly appreciated by
the migrants, as they were able to get news
and information and feel less isolated and more
re-assured.
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SECURITY |
On
January 26th the TAG team took two migrants
to the Ampur's (local government) office in
Takua Pa to request the re-issue of their temporary
ID cards (Tor Ror 38/1). In order to find the
details in the database, the migrants must remember
the 13 digits of their temporary ID card. If
they cannot remember these numbers, they must
search through many boxes of forms to find their
registration details. The details of the two
migrants were found, and the Ampur's office
re-issued the Tor Ror 38/1 cards. These cards
are essential for migrants' safety and security,
and the migrant workers were delighted to be
able to restore their legal status in Thailand.
On the following day, four more migrants came
forward to request the Ampur's office to re-issue
their cards. As migrants search for their cards,
they are identifying migrants who died or went
missing during the tsunami. We hope that the
Ampur's office will be able to put a system
into place to create a list of missing or deceased.
The office has been very helpful despite being
extremely busy.
On January 28th the TAG team visited the local
health station to inquire about the process
of re-issuing health insurance cards for migrants.
Without these cards the migrant workers cannot
access the 30-baht health care scheme. The health
station informed the TAG team that migrants
should produce two photos and first go to the
police station and then bring a form from the
police station to the hospital. Two migrants
have now been re-issued with health insurance
cards with help and cooperation from the police
and the health station.
In Phang Nga Province, before December 26, 2004,
31,353 migrants, including dependents, had registered
for temporary ID cards; out of this total, 22,668
(72%) had registered for work permits. According
to Takua Pa's record of registration, there
were 7,070 registered Burmese workers, 58 Laotians,
and 14 Cambodians in the district. Nobody knows
how many migrants perished in the tsunami or
returned home after the tsunami, but it can
be assumed that there will be thousands of migrants
who need to get their Tor Ror 38/1 cards, health
insurance cards and work permits re-issued.
The cards could be re-issued more quickly if
it was possible to provide the following: (a)
a space at the local government offices to set
up desks to search for the information, (b)
technical assistance to improve the computer
search mechanism, and (c) more Thai- and Burmese-speaking
volunteers. Also, an official announcement to
employers to explain the process and gain their
cooperation would allow more migrants to come
forward.
On January 26th Action Network members of the
TAG group, at a meeting in Chulalongkorn University
in Bangkok, requested that the Interior Ministry
apply article 17 of the Immigration Act (1979)
to relax any move to arrest migrant workers
in the six tsunami-hit provinces. The arrest
of migrants has mostly stopped in the areas,
but with no official policy on this, migrants
continue to fear for their safety and to live
in hiding. At the meeting in Chulalongkorn,
Pol Lt Col Chalermpong Wattanasuk, deputy immigration
police chief in Satun, suggested that the Labour
and Interior Ministry workers should publicize
a relaxation of the regulations.
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IDENTIFICATION OF BODIES |
According
to a report in the Bangkok Post, large numbers
of decomposed bodies of hotel and resort workers
have been left unidentified at two morgues in
Takua Pa district because their employers failed
to show up to identify them. According to Khunying
Porntip there were ''hundreds'' of bodies, many
of them believed to be migrant workers. According
to the incomplete list, the dead were believed
to be employees of Ayara Villas, Pakarang Resort,
Theptaro Lagoon Beach Resort, The Palm Andaman
Beach Resort & Spa, Bamboo Orchid Beach Resort,
Khao Lak Sunset, Khao Lak Seaview Resort and
Spa, Gred & Noi Khao Lak Bungalow, Southsea
Pakarang Resort, Sofitel Magic Lagoon Resort
and Spa Inn, Khao Lak Countryside Resort, Khao
Lak Orchid Resort, and Bangsak Beach Resort.
İThe TAG team can confirm that migrant workers
perished in at least one of these resorts.
TAG (Tsunami Action Group) is a group of NGOs
and community based organizations concerned
for the situation of Burmese migrant workers
affected by the tsunami in the South of Thailand.
The group was initiated by the work of HREIB
and Grassroots HRE and Development Committee
(Burma), in cooperation with MAP Foundation,
Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma
and other members of the Action Network for
Migrants (Thailand). TAG can be contacted through
email at: tagmigrants@yahoo.com or by phone
at MAP Foundation 66 53-811-202, or mobile 06-090-4116
or 01-992-5293.
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