PATTERNS OF DISPLACEMENT

a) The displaced in the relocation sites

Most of the villagers are too afraid to disobey the relocation orders and end up moving to the relocation sites. Unless they have relatives in the area they can stay with, they have to build their own huts, sometimes sharing with other displaced families. In most cases, the land close to the relocation sites is too arid to plant, or is already claimed by other villagers living in the area. Thus, people survive by selling off possessions and doing day labour.

"They built little huts and then they made a living doing day labour..for whoever needed work done. They did not have any fixed employers. They worked for different employers in turn. They earned about 50-60 kyats a day. It is not enough to survive, because they had to buy rice." (KHRG interview with refugee from Murng Nai, August 30, 1997)

Those that have nothing to sell or cannot find work must resort to begging.

all the time. Some people take refuge in the monasteries." (KHRG interview with monk

from Lai Kha, Aug 31, 1997)

Although in some areas the displaced may get written permission to return to tend their fields if they are close to the site, the fact that villagers can be shot on sight outside the site makes many too afraid to risk this.

b) The displaced in hiding

It is impossible to estimate the numbers of villagers who are hiding near their villages in the jungle. Those who do so are either afraid they will not survive in the relocation sites because they are too poor, or, particularly in the case of old people, simply feel too insecure to go far from their homes. They thus stay close to their farms, either secretly planting their old fields, or else relying on stores of rice they have hidden nearby. They cannot stay in their old villages, but make makeshift huts among clumps of trees, or in thick bush, where they are not easily visible.

One 18-year-old Shan villager who had spent over a year hiding in the east of Murng Kerng, described his experience:

moved around all the time. If we stayed too long in one place, the paths we used became too obvious, and we were afraid the SLORC soldiers would find us. Finally, though, we found a cave, where we felt safe, so we stayed there." (SHRF interview with villager from Murng Kerng, November 1997.)

Another teenage boy, disabled from birth and unable to walk, from a village near Keng Kham, related how he and his father had hidden in the jungle, rather than move to the site of Kun Hing.

"When we were relocated, my father, who had looked after me since my mother died, knew he could not support me if we moved to Kun Hing, so we stayed near to our village. But one day, we were very unlucky: as we were going through the jungle, we suddenly met some SLORC troops. They seized my father. I cried, and begged them to leave him with me. I told them I couldn't stay alone, but they took him away and killed him....After that, I decided I would come to Thailand, where I had a sister. I crawled and begged my way down to the border. It took me five months." (SHRF interview with villager from Keng Kham, November 1997)

c) The displaced that flee to Thailand

Because of the difficulties of surviving in the relocation sites and fear of the abuses of the SLORC/SPDC troops, many relocated villagers decide to seek food and shelter elsewhere. Some move to other parts of Shan State where they have relatives or think they can find work. However, most of them flee to Thailand.

Some of the relocated villagers travel straight to Thailand after receiving the relocation orders, and do not even go to the relocation sites.

"In Kali and Kun Hing (relocation sites) we had heard there was nothing for most of us. How could we move there? We had no money, so how could we buy food there? Some people had money, and they came to Thailand immediately, while they still had money. We knew that if we came to Thailand we could work and get money, but if we went to Kun Hing, we would starve. So I came to Thailand. Actually I didn't even have enough money to come to Thailand, so I had to borrow some from relatives." (KHRG interview with villager from Keng Kham, August 30, 1997)

Others have come to Thailand in desperation after trying to survive as long as a year or more in a relocation site or in hiding near their village.

A major factor that influences people to come to the border appears to be their level of information about Thailand. Many of the first Shan refugees to arrive in April-May of 1996 following the start of the relocation program, were those from the southernmost townships of

Central Shan State, such as Murng Nai and Larng Kher, where there is a traditional flow of migrant labour to Thailand. They were thus following established routes to the border, and many had members of their communities already working in Thailand who they could initially come and stay with when they arrived.

However, as more and more refugees have been coming to Thailand over the last 2 years, the networks of information have been spreading deeper inside Shan State, bringing more people to the border.

Money can be a factor influencing people's decision to come to Thailand, as those travelling by truck must pay up to 8,000 kyats per person to travel to the border. However, many also walk to reach the border, often taking several weeks.