Burma Link, December 27, 2013

A fire broke out in Mae La refugee camp today. Some refugees told Burma Link that as many as 200 houses were destroyed by the fire. According to most recent estimates the figure is about 100. So far no one has been reported injured.

Mae La camp is the largest of the camps along the Thailand-Burma border, currently home to about 46,000 refugees. Most of the refugees are ethnic Karen who have fled armed conflict and human rights violations from eastern Burma.

This is not the first time that fire devastates one of the camps on the border. In April this year, 39 refugees died in a fire that destroyed Ban Mae Surin refugee camp in Mae Hong Son Province. Since then, refugees in Mae La and in other camps have been required to fill plastic bags with sand and water to show that they know about fire risks and to use in case a fire breaks out.

There are currently about 130,000 refugees residing in nine camps on the Thailand-Burma border. Refugees are not only afraid of the camps being fire traps, but their lives have recently been interrupted by sharply reduced aid coupled with rumours of premature repatriation.

Photo credit: Eugene