My Life Story

My name is Naw Victoria Baw I am 25 year old, I am Sgaw Karen and Baptist Christian. My father is a teacher, and also work with KED in Daw OO. In the past he taught history (Karen, Burmese and international) in the Karen State. My mother live at home. Now he teaches in Mae Ra Moe Karen refugee camp I was born in the Karen State, in Taungoo district , in the Hee Daw Kaw village.

When I was 5 years old, I started primary school in my village. After finishing it, I went to middle and high school in another place because they were hiding in the jungle from SPDC. In 2006, I finished high school. In the same year, SPDC army burned our village, we had no house and no food so we lived in the jungle for one year. In December 2006, I came to the Mae Ra Moe Karen refugee camp and started post-term education there. It took 2 years. At the same time, I worked with KSNG. After that, in 2010, I came to Mae Sot.

2006, Hee Daw Kaw Village was burn

When I was young, SPDC often attacked the village, destroying animals and paddy fields. People would always flee and later come back again. So I went to a high school in the city, in Taungoo. I was afraid because the SPDC would try to identify who was not from Taungoo so I had to hide there too. My village was burned twice and people kept going back and forth – from the village to the jungle and back. I spent more than 10 years in Taungoo.

Children in front of thier ex-house

In Thailand it is a little bit better than in my village, but I am not registered so I’m worried and miss my village. I’m less afraid now than in Burma but I have no ID card. We left the village in 2006, along the way there was Burmese military. We had to stop and stay for a few days until it was safe to go. We had to do this many times. On our way we had to cross a military road – Tha Da Daw road only for the military. We went in a group of nearly 300 people so we had to cross the road very quietly, at 3-4 am. We reached the Salween and then took a boat along the river. On one side we saw the Burmese military, on the other side – the Thai.

There was also a military checkpoint but the driver took the boat along the Thai side and the Burmese military did not see us. We crossed the border at the Mae Ne Ta village – it is an IDP area. We had to cross the KNU and Thai checkpoints, but not Burmese. We only worried about the Thai checkpoint because Thais did not want to accept refugees. KNU knew all about us so we did not worry about them. My family was separated when the village was burned and during the fleeing. I arrived to Thailand first. I have one brother and one sister, all of my family is now in the refugee camp except me.

First time I felt afraid because I had never been to the camp. There were too many people there and it was not my country. I was afraid to be arrested or do something wrong. We did not understand the Thai language so it was difficult.they are separate – in terms of communication. But they also mix because of their residence location – they rent whatever houses are empty. It is not possible to tell where which ethnic area is as people are mixed.when I am in Mae Sot, it feels temporary. When I am in the camp, it is also not eternal, it is temporary. The Karen State is my homeland, Thailand is temporary. I miss living in the Karen State every day.

I miss the Karen people who are still in the jungle, the students who can’t go to school. I feel sorry for them. People are still hiding in the jungle, do not have enough food, who have to go very far just to get a tin of rice.

I feel happy to come back. I’m satisfied to have a chance to go back and see the people and know the situation of the Karen State. I am worried to cross the river, but satisfied. From Mae Sot to the border is more dangerous than crossing the [river] border. But still there is no stability in the political situation so it still feels dangerous [in Burma].I never had to deal with them, I am afraid of them and I avoid the police. I avoid checkpoints, sometimes the Thai police wait for us when crossing the river and then we have to pay them. I was arrested 5-6 times, sometimes for 1 hour or 0.5 hour, sometimes for 3-4 hours. If that happens, somebody else has to go to the police station and pay 7,000-8,000 baht to get me released. The KNU pays for us.

Burma and Thailand are close but very different political situation. People who are registered have a good chance to get a job, to get hospital treatment, they don’t need to pay the school fees. They can get a permission to go anywhere, help when looking for a job. Thailand is a developing country, it has better leadership than Myanmar. In Myanmar, there is no free provision of education, medical care – we have to pay a lot for it. Burma government does not really protect the population. It is a military regime because they only care for the army rather than the whole population. They spend most money for the army. I want to say that I will try a lot to get freedom for Burma. I want to go back but not yet. We are still facing problems. Can you tell me what to do to get freedom for Burma?

Writing by Victoria Baw, Burma / Thailand.Photo is taken from www.freeburmarangers.org to support this story