APWH Final Project

1. By: Dana Erickson

2. Get to Know Myanmar
 Myanmar is a country a little smaller than Texas located between
Thailand and Bangladesh.
 Until 1989 Myanmar was referred to a Burma, this is still what most
foreign powers recognize it as.
 Myanmar was ruled by the British until 1948.
 Ethnic makeup - Burman 68%, Shan 9%, Karen7%, Rakhine 4%,
Chinese 3%, Indian 2%, Mon 2%, other 5%
 Population: 55,746,253
 Myanmar has a very high rate of AIDS, and infectious diseases
(especially
from water and food borne illnesses, and malaria)
 Myanmar has been a Parliamentary Government since 2011.
 1/3 of the population lives in poverty.
 Poor infrastructure and human resources due to past corruption.
 Target country for Human Trafficking for labor purposes.
 3rd largest producer of Opium in the World.

3. The Kachin War
 The Kachin War (also known as the Burmese Civil had two phases.
○ Phase 1: 5 February 1961 – 24 February 1994 ended in a
ceasefire
○ Phase 2: The cease fire ended 9 June 2011 and the current
phase is ongoing.
 Phase 2 has displaced over 100,000 people (due to poor record
keeping the number is probably greater).
 The conflict began and continues due to poor representation of
Myanmar’s broad of minority groups.
 Both the Myanmar National Army and the Kachin rebels are known for
using a great number of child soldiers, and for using total warfare
(targeting civilians).
 Ceasefire talks in both 2013 and 2014 failed, the 2013 talked ended in
increased violence.

4. Who are the Karenni?
 The Karenni are an ethnic group from the Kayah state of
Mayanmar. Karenni means Red Karen in Kayah (the most
common langague of the Karennis)
 The Karenni come from the Kayah State of Myanmar
however most of them have fled to the U.S. due to intense
violence in the State.
 The Karenni are known extremely hard workers who believe
in community and take care of each other like family even if
they’ve just met.
 They are also known for their extreme devotion to their
country, customs, and facing difficulty head on.

5. Life in a Refugee Camp
 Most of the Karenni Refugee Camps are located in Thailand.
 Some refugees have been confined to these camps for over
30 years, while others have used them as a stepping stone
to leave the country.
 The camps are known for being unpleasant, unsanitary and
overcrowded. However the Thailand government says with
the number of refuges still growing they have no resources
to improve these conditions.
 One refugee talks about the camps saying “It is so strict to live
here. There is nothing to do. I am not allowed to go outside the camp. There
is no job, no work. So much stress and depression. I feel that I am going to
go crazy here.” (Burmese refugee, Nu Po camp, Tak province, January
2012; Human Rights Watch, 2012e, p. 18)

6. Leaving the Camps
 For many refugees leaving the camps is not an option. They
have been unable to work for years and since most were
relatively poor by world standards before the war they do not
have the resources need to travel to another country to start a
new life.
 There are only 11 countries actively accepting Burmese
refugees: The United States, Australia, Canada, The United
Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Finland, New
Zealand, Belgium and Japan. Moving to any of these nations
means the refugees have to learn another language, something
they don’t have acess to learn in the camp schools.
 Many of these countries are beginning to stop their resettlement
programs. For example the U.S. is not accepting any refugees
who had not submitted their resettlement application by June
5th, 2013.

7. Life in America
 The United States home to over thousands of Karenni
refugees. Many of these refugees are sponsored by global
organizations and local churches.
 Since the Karenni do not have family or last names they
have had to adopt English names for government
documents. Typically Karenni names end in Reh for boys and Meh
or Ma for girls, making full names things likeToe Reh, Keh Ma, and
Dah Meh.
 Finding a job poses a difficult challenge for the Karenni population.
They are more than willing to do all kinds of work but struggle with
speaking and understanding English. Many Karenni find assistance
with their sponsor or other local originations.
 Karenni children attend local public schools in there area and are
quickly becoming accustom to the America way of life.
This picture was taken in
Winston-Salem!

8. In Your Community
 There are huge populations of Karenni refuges living in both
Forsyth and Robeson county, as well as a smaller population
living in Raleigh.
 One of the biggest contributors to helping the Karenni in
North Carolina is Open Arms Refugee Ministry based out of
Winston-Salem. This organization has partnered with 10
different churches across their area to provide aid for
refugees.
 When OARM families arrive to America they find fully
furnished apartments with not only everything they need to
start a new life but culturally appropriate décor to remind the
of Home.
 The Karenni in North Carolina are still strongly connected
with each other and other settlements in Florida and
Georgia.

9. Personal Connection
When I was in the 8th grade I became an assistant teacher for the Third Grade Sunday School
class at my church. In early December one of the local Baptist churches became the host
church to over 300 Karenni refugees. However many of these refugees were Catholic
and still wished to attend mass, so the Baptists reached out to my church to see if we
would be willing to let them join our parish. So mid-December the four Karenni girls who
were in the 3rd grade joined our class. Since they had just recently moved to America
they didn’t speak English well and were especially timid around adults, so my only job in
the class that year was to work with those four girls. Now most of our Karenni student
have been living in America for almost five years and speak English very well. However I
still work a bit more with those students than I do with the others as they still aren’t as
comfortable with the adult teachers.
The addition of the Karenni students to our classrooms has been eye opening for everyone
involved. Their first year here one of our girls asked who Santa was and said he never
came to see them back home, the other kids in the class were completely shocked by it.
Even this year we had a student who was refusing to eat the class snack, turned out it
was because he’d never had ice cream before. His family was part of a new group of
refugees who had just been in American from a few months. It’s also been amazing to
watch how they interact with each other. They consider each other family and make sure
everyone is taken care of. My favorite example of this happened between two boys in my
class this year. The first one has been in American for five years and barley remembers
Myanmar while the second just arrived this year. The first boy is known around the
church for his wild behavior however when the second boy arrived and was shying away
from everyone the first boy immediately sat next to him and would help him with his work
and communicating with us. This routine has continued all year and was something none
of us would have expected before had. It’s been a really rewarding experience
Karennis from my church
perform traditional dances at
our church heritage festival!

10. Works Cited
 "Burma." Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency, n.d.
Web. 12 May 2015. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/geos/bm.html>.
 "Burma's Kachin War." World Burmas Kachin War Renewed Ethnic
Strife Threatens Regional Stability Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May
2015. <http://world.time.com/2013/01/28/burmas-kachin-war-renewed-
ethnic-strife-threatens-regional-stability/>.
 "The Karenni People." - Background. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2015.
<http://www.karennirefugees.com/>.
 "Tag Archives: Karenni Refugee Camp 1." Social Development Center.
N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2015.
<https://sdcthailand.wordpress.com/tag/karenni-refugee-camp-1/>.
 "US Stops Resettlement Program in June « Karen News." Karen News.
N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2015. <http://karennews.org/2013/01/us-stops-
resettlement-program-in-june.html/>.
 "Refugees Find New Home in North Carolina." Refugees Find New
Home, New Life in North Carolina. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2015.
<http://www.brnow.org/News/September-2011/Refugees-find-new-
home-new-life-in-N-C>.