Inside Burma, today known as Myanmar, there are about 2 million refugees called Internally Displaced People (IDP). Also many Karen people are living in hardy accessible jungle areas close to the Thai border.

IDP village before the pillage

They are dwelling in very basic, improvised huts and are supporting themselves by farming and hunting. There are hardly any schools in these villages and no medical care, apart from so-called backpacker doctors, who manage to get to the squalid and dilapidated settlements on secret paths in the jungle. They are risking their lives to bring at least some medical help to the people living there in unimaginable poverty. None of the big NGOs care for the IDPs, because they are not permitted to officially work in Burma. The international NGOs are therefore unable to help the people inside Burma efficiently, because this would imply incalculable risks for their staff.

The IDPs are constantly on their guard to flee deeper into the jungle, whenever there are attacks of the Burmese army. If they don't manage to get a warning from their own army, they fall prey to violence, torture, rape and executions. When the return, they find their settlements burned down, their few possessions stolen, their fields contaminated by land mines.

Fleeing is the only chance

These people are suffering in the hope of a better life in a liberated Burma. If they see no other way out, they flee across the border into Thailand.

HELP WITHOUT BORDERS has founded a school inside Burma with the help of a trustworthy contact person. We cover all costs including the teachers' salaries and daily meals for the students. We are planning to found more schools in the future.

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