 What is the Reality of the Tsunami Tragedy for Migrant Workers from Burma? On the 26th of December 2004, a tsunami struck and shook the coastlines of the Indian Ocean resulting in the death of more than 150,000 persons in countries including India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Malaysia, and Thailand. In the initial news coverage - international and regional - Burma was not listed as being hit or affected by the deadly waves. Within Burma itself, the military junta - controlled newspaper New Light of Myanmar, reported that the 26 December , 2004 tsunami had had no real impact on Burma as a country. The report instead focused on Burma’s expression of condolences towards its neighboring countries. Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) shares the coastline of the Andaman Sea with many of the other devastated countries which were ravaged by the December 24, tsunami. Its beaches lie just north of those struck in Thailand. Following the tsunami, the official word from the ruling junta was that Burma fortunately had only experienced a minimum scale of damage from the disaster. As more information flowed out from other media sources in the days following the tsunami, it became apparent that the reported death toll and casualties from the tsunami in Burma vary widely. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s pages, 11 January 2005, report 59 deaths and a few hundred injuries. In Nirinjara, the statement from the Arakan National Council, places the death toll in the Arakan State alone at as many as 96. On 9 January 2005, Democratic Voice of Burma reported that 50 fishing boats had gone missing. After its mission in the affected areas, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) confirmed in the Democratic Scoop, 10 January 2005, that the death toll has risen to around 60 to 80. There has yet to be any open report of rescue operations and humanitarian assistance being provided in the affected areas of Burma. According to United Nations speculation, 30,000 people within the country are in desperate need of basic humanitarian assistance. (see Paul Eckert, Myanmar remains in tsunami news black hole, swiss info, 5 January 2004) Burma like its neighboring countries in the Region has many inhabitants living along the coastal areas who depend on the sea as their main source of livelihood. Most of the inhabitants of the coastlines are fisherfolks, seafarers, and sea gypsies (mainly ethnic Salon and Moken) who face increased vulnerability to natural disasters. According to the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma, hundreds of sea gypsies are missing in the Ocean together with other fisherfolks. (Paul Eckert, Myanmar remains in tsunami news black hole, swiss info, January 5, 2004) There are also thousands of Burmese migrant workers both documented and undocumented working in Thailand in construction, service industries, and as fisherfolk. Many of these migrant workers from Burma were largely concentrated in the tsunami disaster-stricken areas of Thailand. The article, “Hundreds of Burmese are dead” The Nation, 5 January 2004, stated that at Bang Ben Beach in Ranong’s Kapur district alone, 200 Burmese migrant workers have been reported dead and another 500 are still missing. In Phuket, 300 are reported dead while 2000 are missing. According to reports in The Nation, the Myanmar Government-State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has yet to inquire about the well being of its citizens and has failed to offer any assistance. In his article “Hundreds of Burmese are dead” The Nation, 5 January 2004, reporter Subhatra Bhumiprahas states“ …it is feared that the lack of access to aid and basic necessities may leave a further 5,000 of Burmese workers in peril as they haven’t been given priority by the Thai government.” More recent reports following the days after the tsunami confirm this harsh reality. The Agence France Presse, 7 January 05 reported that “many Burmese migrants are ineligible for much of the official aid due to the their tenuous legal standing.” On 17 January 2005 The Nation, reported that in Phang Nga province “ two thousand five hundred Burmese people have been killed by the tsunami.” The Bangkok Post Website, 9 January 2005 reported that “ Many have died in the natural disaster, but are still left lying in Yanyao temple, a makeshift morgue, waiting for a relative or a friend to take them home.” Migrant workers from Burma do not dare to come forward and claim the body or bodies of their loved ones, as they fear arrest. This article highlights the further challenge of distinguishing between legal and illegal migrant workers, as like most other tsunami victims, many of these workers had their work permits and documents swept away and out to sea during the disaster. Tony Cheng mentioned in his article, “Thailand’s secret survivors” BBC News, 13 January 04, that the tsunami victims, the migrant workers from Burma “ have received no medical aid”. He quotes in his article from Pranom Sumwong, of The Migrant Assistance Programme ( MAP), who provides direct evidence of even more numbers of undocumented workers being arrested and ignored as relief efforts continue to flood into Thailand. By scanning a number of the aforementioned media sources, it becomes apparent that the extent of the very real damage in Burma and to its citizens caused by the tsunami disaster is much deeper and more widespread than what the SPDC has been willing to declare. Stranded Burmese migrant workers in Thailand have been left at bay by their so-called “government “and pushed aside, intimidated, and neglected by Thai officials who are more interested in cleaning up beaches for the arrival of new tourists than dealing with the devastation to the livelihoods and families of these group of workers. Where are the missing offshore people of Burma? Why has the ruling military junta ignored the plight of its citizens in Thailand? Why does the regime remain secretive about any form of disaster and need for relief efforts in its Country? Answers to these questions reflect the political mindset of the military junta regime: keep foreign agents such as aid agencies, rescue workers, and humanitarian assistance out of the country to maintain the illusion that the junta is in control even in the face of overwhelming natural disaster. Even if it costs the lives and livelihoods of the citizens, the regime continues to exercise a closed-door policy. Moreover, the regime is very much reluctant to inform the public about natural disasters as there is a cultural belief that when a natural disaster occurs, it is a signal from heaven about the illegitimacy of the ruling body of the State. In recognition and in solidarity with Burmese migrants who still continue to suffer the after effects of the recent tsunami disaster without adequate support or relief, APWLD’s Labor and Migration Task Force calls on:
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