This afternoon, we visited Maela, a Burmese Refugee Camp located 40 minutes from Mae Sot. Although it is always difficult for Burmese people to cross the border, over 50,000 people coming from Burma live in the camp. Most people are Karen.
Since today is Sunday, Christian worship ceremony took place and approximately 500 people attended the ceremony. After that we had an opportunity to talk to the head pastor. The pastor told us, "Although I am a religious leader, not a political leader, I encourage people here to tell outsiders about the Burmese politics because the government controls everything." He hopes more people know about the hardship in Burma. Then, we looked around the camp and talked to the people.
The life was somewhat different from my expectation. To illustrate, everything can be available inside the camp, from market places to the wireless Internet. They have schools and, for Christians, even offer students Bachelor's degree. In addition, they encourage the refugees to re-settle abroad. Until now, more than 5000 people relocated in 10 countries, including the U.S. At the end of the meeting, the pastor said "For Karen people, we love our country. No place is better than the motherland."
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