Photostory: A day on the garbage dump
I visited the garbage dump many times over the course of several months in 2008-2009 while filming for my documentary.
Fred and I had the idea to create a movie to get some awareness to raise some money for supplies for the inhabitants of the dump.
We often brought food and medicine over, and I always carried my film and photo camera to show donors where their money is going to.
On 24th of January, the police ran a crackdown on the dump to get rid of illegal immigrants and after we had to support the people and bring over the food and supplies that the Thai authorities had taken away.
In this photo gallery I took pictures from 3 am until 2 pm, showing you how the inhabitants are living.
The 100 families that are living on the garbage dump are trying to support themselves by collecting plastic, glass and other useful materials. When they have collected enough, they will bring it to a recycle center.
They earn around 50 bucks a month. That is only when the whole family is working together and every family is working in shifts.
Around 10 to 16 times a day ,24/7, a garbage truck arrives and dumps their load. Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 54%
Illegal Immigrants on the garbage dump
First impression of the people who are living on the garbage dump.
In Mae Sot there are living around 200-300 people on the garbage dump. They have fled form their home country Burma to build up a live here in Thailand.
They try to make some money by collecting plastic, glass and other materials. When they have [...]
Mae La refugee camp
(Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC.org) 2009)
Mae La is also known as ‘Beh Klaw’ in Karen, which means ‘cotton field’ due to the agricultural activities for which Karen leaders first negotiated permission for refugees to cross into the area in 1984.
History:
The camp was originally established following the fall of the KNU base at the Thai village [...]
Gareth visits the dump
Gareth is a medical student of Australia, he’s currently following a 6-week internship at the Mae Tao Clinic in Mae Sot.
The people on the dump are afraid to walk to the clinic, they can be arrested on the way to it, because they ‘re illegal immigrants. That’s why we have to go to dump to [...]
Political Imprisonment
Interview with Aung Kgaw: Aung Kgaw has spent 14 years in prison, because he was a member of a democratic party in Burma.
AAPPB (2006) Eight Seconds of Silence:
The Burmese government, like most dictatorships, does it best to hide the crimes it commits against its people. Perhaps on some level it knows that what it [...]
Organizations
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Burma Crisis
Burma’s Fight for Freedom
The people of the Southeast Asian country of Burma are locked in one of the world’s great freedom struggles. The country’s military rulers, the State Peace and Development Council, have run the country with an iron fist for the past 19 years, after they assumed power from a 26-year socialist dictatorship. In [...]
Shoot on sight, by Burma Issues
The ongoing military offensive against villagers in northern Karen State
The video details the horrendous situation that villagers in Toungoo, Nyaung Lay Bin and Muthraw Districts are facing and includes testimonies from villagers and prison porters affected by this offensive. Throughout this military campaign, which began in November 2005 and is still ongoing, villages have been shelled with mortars, looted and burnt to the ground.
Crops and food supplies have been destroyed.
Burmese soldiers are ordered to shoot on sight regardless of whether it is a combatant or a defenseless civilian. As a result more than 27,000 people have been forced from their homes, either hiding in the jungle or trying to find refuge in Thailand.
The Burmese army continues to increase its military presence in these areas and carry out attacks against villagers.
Thousands of lives have been affected by this offensive and many have been lost – all valuable and irreplaceable.
The three actions that we are calling for are:
- For ASEAN, China and India to pressure the SPDC to stop the attacks in northern Karen State
- For Thailand to enable more humanitarian assistance to cross the Thai-Burma border into Burma, and for donor countries to support cross border work
- For a United Nations Security Council resolution on Burma
To find out more information about Burma Issues Video Team please click here.
Popularity: 40%
The Irrawaddy
- International Lawyers Question Thailand's Security LawA weak rule of law is contributing to political division and violence in Thailand, according to the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ).
- Karen Refugees Warned Not To TalkThe Thai military has warned Karen refugees at Tha Song Yang not to speak to the media or the UNHCRor risk arrest and deportation.
- Thai-Burmese Border Camps Braced for New Refugee FlowThe prospect of conflict in disputed areas of Burma\’s Karen State is leading Thai-Burmese border camps to brace themselves for new flows of refugees.
- Filipinos Prepare for First-ever Automated ElectionsFilipinos will vote in the May 10 general election through an automated elections system, which promises to speed up time spent at the ballot box, a quicker results count and a supposedly fraudulen …
- Ban on CNN May Be Related to Haiti CoverageBurma\’s only provider of non-state television stations has stopped broadcasting CNN, possibly because of its coverage of US troops involved in the Haiti earthquake relief effort.
- A Visit with Leaders on Mon National DayTraveling from Chiang Mai, it took two days to reach the area near Three Pagoda Pass where Mon leaders came out of the jungle to celebrate Mon National Day.
- Yes to Dialogue, No to the Border Guard ForceNai Htaw Mon, chairperson of the New Mon State Party, discusses the organization\’s views and positions on the current political situation in Burma with THE IRRAWADDY.
