Naung Bo and her teenage son, A Kyaw, spent three hours standing like cattle in the steel cage on the back of a Thai police truck before it finally arrived at its destination. However, this was not the destination they intended when they left their home in Kyaikdon Village, in Kawkareik Township, Karen State, three days before.
The truck stopped at the Friendship Bridge on the border between Mae Sot, Thailand, and Myawaddy, in Burma because they were being deported back to Burma.
Naung Bo, a slim, 40 year-old mother of three, with copper skin and jet-black hair, had left Burma by crossing illegally into Thailand at Umphang Township, Tak Province, with her son, following the lead of Karen brokers who acted as their guides. They intended to go to Bangkok to find a job and join her teenage daughter, A Mu Noung, who had already made the perilous journey.
Luck was not on their side, however. On February 24th, a group of ten people, including Naung Bo and A Kyaw, were arrested by Thai police while leaving Umphang. The Karen couple leading them was arrested on human trafficking charges by Thai authorities and they were deported to Myawaddy the next day as illegal migrants.
Naung Bo and her son faced many difficulties when they arrived in Myawaddy. Not the least being, they were broke after Thai police confiscated their money when they were arrested.
“We needed help. I didn’t have any friends here because I had never been here before. And, I had no money in my hands,” Naung Bo said.
According to Naung Bo, she didn’t know where she should go and how to ask for help, even though she was back in her own country.
She worked as a farmer in her brother’s rice field before she left Burma, after divorcing her husband ten years ago.
Villagers in Kawkareik Township used to grow rice and cultivate gardens. However, they can grow only a small amount of rice and produce and the small profit made it not worthwhile.
That was the case for Naung Bo and her family, too. The paddy could not produce enough rice because of poor weather conditions. There was no other way to earn money. So, life was getting more and more difficult for she and the children each passing year.
“I decided to go work in Bangkok because our daily life was such a struggle,” she said.
“But, we could not reach Bangkok and we lost all our money,” she told KIC in a recent interview.
To make matters worse, she borrowed 600,000 Kyat ($685 USD) at 5% interest from a villager at home. She handed over all the borrowed money to the brokers for passage to Bangkok. Currently, the broker couple is being detained by Thai police and Naung Bo said she could not get her money back.
Like Naung Bo, twelve Karen youths from Hlaing Bwe Township headed for Bangkok- led by a Burmese broker. They were also arrested by Thai police in February 2010, in Photphra Township.
Thai police asked them to pay 10,000 Baht per person. They could not give that amount. The Karen Information Centre reported 9 of them were killed by a Thai police officer, who later committed suicide.
Despite the risk, however, Karen villagers still believe finding a job in Bangkok is the only way to solve their family’s economic problems.
“They put their lives in the hands of God,” according to Saw Seint Hpalaung, from the Bangkok based Overseas Karen Refugees’ Social Organization. He said there have been cases of rape, extortion and even murder of migrants seeking passage to Bangkok.
“Actually, they don’t want to go on such a risky journey to another country. They really want to work in their own country. They go because of economic hardship in Burma,” he said.
“When people who work in Bangkok go back to their village with some savings- those people seem to be economically well-off and other people see them as role models. So, many people want to follow them to Bangkok to find work.”
Therefore, young and middle age people from Kawkareik continue to travel to Bangkok, with help from brokers. Some arrived in Bangkok without any problem; but others, like Naung Bo and her son, were captured and deported back to Burma.
Her daughter, A Mu Noung, age 13, arrived in Bangkok in November, 2010, and has been working as a maid in a Thai household.
“My daughter is very young. She would be in grade 6 if she was still in our village. But, I cannot afford to pay her school fees. I allowed her to go to Bangkok to work because we faced so many difficulties. Now, her brother and I want to follow her,” Naung Bo said.
“My goal is to get a job in Bangkok so I can earn and save money. I want to send my 11 year- old son, Phu Kyaw, to school. He is living in his uncle’s home. If we get enough money to buy a house, we will go back to our village.”
Luckily, she has been in contact with a cousin who has been working in Maesot. She has provided Naung Bo with some money for travel costs to return to her village.
She is determined, however, to risk another trip to Bangkok because she has to pay back the 600,000 kyat, with interest.
“I’ll go back to my village. But, I will go to Bangkok later. If I don’t go to Bangkok, how I can pay money back to the lender. I must go to Bangkok,” she said.
