Ban Don Yan refugee camp is located in the mountains about 20 miles away from the town of Sangkhlaburi, in Kanchanaburi Province in Thailand.

It is a difficult journey on a mountainous road, known for falling rocks, especially in the rainy season when it is very muddy.

Saw Day Htoo has lived in the camp since 1999 with his family. The 23 year-old is the youngest son of Saw Tha Dah and Naw Leh Wah.

Before arriving at Ban Don Yan, his family lived on their rice field, one day’s walk from Ta Gay Village, in Kyar Inn Seik Gyi Township, in Karen State. However, the family was forced to relocate to Ta Gay village by the Burmese Army in 1997, where they faced difficulty because they couldn’t grow rice in the village and didn’t have a permanent place to live.

So, they left for Ban Don Yan refugee camp, on the Thai-Burma border. What was normally a 10 day journey took 30 days because they had to avoid the Burmese Army along the way. As well, they had to cross the Zami River, which was dangerous because the current was very fast at that time.

The trip was very difficult and his sister got malaria along the way. Finally, she died because there was no medicine for her.

Saw Day Htoo and his parents were hopeful for his future because he could attend school for the first time at the camp in 2000.

He was shy to study in the school, however, because he was 12 years old in primary level.

“When I was young, I took care of the cows. I could not go to school in my village. I went to school when I arrived at the camp.”

The family’s trials were not over, however, when they arrived at the refugee camp because his efforts to get the highest level of education he could at the camp school have not paid-off the way he and his family had hoped.

“I grew up in the camp and passed the 12th grade but I don’t have a job in the camp,” Saw Day Htoo said.

He felt trapped after graduation because he couldn’t study anymore in the camp but he cannot leave to study or work. Many of his friends face the same dilemma.

He feels trapped, too, because he and his parents also don’t want to resettle in a third country.

So, his future is clouded by uncertainty.

Most youths in the camp don’t study in the school and get married at an early age. Some have gone illegally to Bangkok to look for a job.

 One person who worked in a mine outside the camp and came back to the camp said in an interview some of his friends fled to various cities in Thailand to work but were unable to return to the camp because they left illegally. Other friends were arrested by Thai police and imprisoned. Some were deported to Burma.

Others have worked as daily wage workers for Thai timber businesses.

“If Thai authorities arrest these refugees, who illegally work outside the camp, they are put in jail. But, if they are not arrested, they get some money and come back to the camp.”

Some camp residents slip out of the camp to gather bamboo shoots in rainy season, both to sell and to eat because they struggle to survive on the camp food ration.
Saw Day Htoo is too afraid, however.

“Even though they are afraid, they have to go. But, I am afraid to go outside,” he said.

“Recently, my friend and I were going to gather vegetables in the jungle (outside the camp). But Thai soldiers met us and they didn’t permit us to go outside. They told us that refugee camp provided food, so we didn’t need to go outside. They also threatened to shoot us,” he said.

“I think the camp is like a prison.”

Ninety-five percent of refugees in the Ban Don Yan camp are Karen and the remaining 5% are Mon, Tavoyan, Burman and Muslims. There are over 1,000 children living in the camp.

In 1998, camp committee members and educated people in the camp started to consider education for children in the camp. However, Thai authorities could not manage to build a permanent school. Teachers taught in a house and door to door.

Teachers also taught different subjects to different ethnic people. For example: Karen subjects for Karen children and Mon subjects for Mon children.

The ZOA (Zionist Organization of America) provided salary for teachers, and learning materials for students.

However, the quality of the education received by the refugee children was and is sub-standard, according to a teacher in the camp.

“Currently, the quality of education in the camp school is very low if it’s compared to Thai school- but it’s much better than school in Burma. We are refugees. So, I think, we are lucky to have it,” a school teacher said.

From 2008 to 2010, there were over 1,500 students studying in the school from primary to 12th standard (grade). According to school teachers, there were over 70 students who studied in 12th standard in 2010 academic year.

Parents have to pay education fees for their children this year (2011). Currently, NGOs and aid agencies have reduced support to refugees making survival even more difficult for refugees who cannot go outside to work and struggle to find jobs in the camp. Consequently, some parents won’t send their children to school

Saw Day Htoo completed school in March, 2011. Now, he wants to work at some camp offices (such as the camp committee office and some NGO project offices). However, there are many people trying to get a job in these offices ahead of him.

There are 20 departments in the camp. However, only 40 workers are needed for these departments. There are over 70 students who pass the 12th standard every year. So, only 40 students, usually closely connected to high ranking officials can get a job. Therefore, many students become unemployed after graduation.

News of a new education program has rekindled Saw Day Htoo’s hope for a brighter future, however.

He and some of his friends are waiting to enter a pre-university program in the camp being set up by the Thai Authority and the Camp Committee.

According to Saw Day Htoo, it’s the only hope for students in the camp who don’t have a job and already passed the 12th standard.

However, even this opportunity is not without challenges of its own.

“We have to wear a uniform when we go to school. The school doesn’t provide uniforms to students. So, I have to buy a uniform but I don’t have enough money to buy it. I don’t have a job to save money to buy it. I cannot go outside to work. So, I have a problem,” he said.

 “But, I have to try my best to enter the program so I can study, even though it’s not sure I will get a job after finishing the courses.”

He said he wants to study English to improve his chances of getting a job.

“I hope I can get a job easily, if I can speak, read and write English. I also want to teach children who live in the jungle and have no chance to go to school.”