Burma is a country located in South East Asia and is home to many different ethnic groups of people. It borders Thailand, China, India, Laos, and Bangladesh. Since 1962 it has been run by an oppressive military regime; a regime that has no qualms about subjugating innocent people to extreme cruelty and even death.
Ethnic minorities suffer the most from the heavy hand of the Burmese Army. Women are raped and children conscripted into the army regularly. Countless people have been forced to be porters for the Burmese army and if they are unable to continue walking, due to fatigue or old age, they are tortured, shot, or left to die. People are used by the army for forced labor of many kinds, most without pay. Many ethnic minorities are forced to move out of their villages, leaving their fields and crops, and given only a matter of a few days to do so. They are placed in relocation sites run by the Burmese Army. One refugee described these areas as being comparable to the Nazi concentration camps. In these relocation sites, people are mistreated, forced to labor for the Burmese, barely fed, and not allowed to leave - their freedoms are severely restricted. If they attempt to go back to their former villages to live or even to harvest their crops, they are killed.
The living conditions of the jungle are already harsh enough. With the Burmese army forcing men, women, and children to work for them, families are unable to provide for themselves and often face malnutrition, disease, and many times death. As a result, millions of people, of various ethnic groups, in Burma are hiding in the jungle and are continuously running from the army. They are the Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP's) of Burma. Many of these outlying hill areas, where they are hiding, have been declared free fire zones and anyone seen in these areas is shot on the spot by the army - no questions asked.
Because of these deplorable conditions, thousands have fled Burma and are currently living in refugee camps in Thailand and other bordering countries. Although conditions are adequate and relatively safe in these camps, all refugees continue to wait for the day when they can return to their country and live peacefully.
