By Burma Link / March 24, 2015

 John Bosco is like any 23-year-old who dreams of good education and a career, and who likes to read, use the internet, and play football. Unlike many young people, however, John’s life is confined within the fences of Ban Mai Nai Soi refugee camp in Thailand. John is ethnic Karenni and comes from a big family in a rural village with no access to electricity or water. Although John grew up under militarization and afraid of “the sounds of guns shooting and bombs exploding,” his main priority was education. John’s family wanted him to have a better life and a future, and they sent him to the Ban Mai Nai Soi refugee camp in 2009. He hasn’t been able to see his family since. In the camp, John says that restrictions on movement and travel are increasing hand in hand with decreasing aid. Like so many others, John is now trapped in one of the most isolated refugee camps in Thailand, which remains out of the electricity grid and is surrounded by landmines. John still considers himself lucky; he doesn’t have to worry about repatriation as much as the many others who have no family in Burma and no place to go.

 

We went to another village and carried water from the lake

John Bosco is a 23-year-old young Karenni refugee from Phruso Township, Dot Ngee Khu village.

My name is John Bosco. I come from Karenni State in Burma.

In the village mostly my parents do farming. They have their own