Return Home 1, 2, 3

Return to Home Land Story and written by Kyaw Thein Kha June 18, 2009

I just want to share my experience when I returned home from Malaysia. After working for about one year in an NGO in Thai-Burma border, I moved to Malaysia as I was asked for help from a Burmese social organization in Malaysia. One month visa was chopped in my passport at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). I stayed for one month in Kuala Lumpur, helping the organization in what they needed. Two days before my visa expired, I went to Putra Jaya immigration office to extend my visa for another one month. Instead, one of the Malaysian “Then, we all were locked in the Thai immigration police truck immigration officers chopped a rejected stamp in my and deported on the bank of Thaung Yin River which passport. I was very angry with the officer and asked separates Thailand and Burma.” him why he did so. Even if he could not issue another one month visa, he should simply say that he could not do so. Now, my visa was rejected by the immigration. It is not easy for a Burmese passport holder even to apply for a tourist visa to go to Thailand, one of the neighboring countries of Burma. The rejected stamp in my passport would make me difficult to apply for the visas in the embassies. The consular would not easily issue a visa on a passport with rejected stamp. Finally, I decided to stay in Malaysia until my visa expired. I stayed in Malaysia illegally over one year. One day, I got a surgery at KL general hospital because of a urinal problem in male reproductive organ. I still remember the day on which I was discharged from the hospital. It was on 6th May, 2008. When I arrived at my room, I heard that everybody was saying about Nargis. I didn’t know what Nargis was. I didn’t ask my friends to come and meet me at the hospital during being hospitalized for about one week as I didn’t want them to waste their time instead of working in factories. So, I didn’t hear about Nargis. I asked them “What’s Nargis?” Then, they said that Nargis was the name of a cyclone that effected in Yangon and delta region of Burma on 2nd and 3rd of May, 2009. They also said that Nargis killed over 100, 000 people and made 1, 000, 000 people homeless in delta region in Burma. I was curious about Nargis victims more than I had heard. I rushed to the internet shop nearby my room. I visited the news sites. I used Google search and typed “Pictures of Nargis Victims” in the search box. Then, I found pictures of dead bodies of Nargis victims - children, men, women and the dead bodies of animals; terrible pictures. I had been out of contact with my family for a long time. I wanted to know the situation of my family. I started to worry about my family. When I felt well and the wound also almost healed, I decided to return home. I had to contact a broker who would transfer me to the hands of different brokers along the way to Burma. As I was staying in Malaysia illegally, I could not take flight to my land. There is only one way for illegal ones to choose. That’s to be smuggled through the borders illegally. To do that, we have to pay the money to brokers who know the way how to smuggle through Malaysia-Thai border and Thai-Burma border. I told the broker which way I wanted to take. That’s Kuala Lumpur-Mae Sot – Yangon. Mae Sot is the name of a town on Thai-Burma border. The brokers said that I had to pay 800 Malaysian Ringgit to arrive in Burma, i.e, I had to pay 230 US dollars to broker for his service. I didn’t have enough money to reach full amount to pay the broker that I borrowed the rest of the amount from one of my friends. I had to take the bus from KL to Penang as the broker lived in Penang. It was about a five-hour drive to arrive in Penang. The bus left KL at 11 pm and it arrived in Penang bus terminal at 4 am. The broker picked me up by motorbike at 6 am. When I arrived at the broker’s house, he explained me about the track detail. He’s a Burmese. He said that as the two Malaysian brokers would pick me up at a Burmese restaurant at 3 pm, there left so much time for me to have a shower, eat and take a rest.

I had already understood that it was very dangerous for a person to be smuggled through the borders illegally. But, I didn’t have any legal travel document. I had only one way to choose. That’s to smuggle through the borders. If I were checked by the police on the way, I’d surely be arrested. I had too much worries and stress on my situation. I didn’t want to eat nor had a shower. Besides, I know about the brokers well as I was a social worker in Malaysia. The victims whom I helped often told me how the brokers treated them badly. So, I dared not trust every broker. If I were trafficked, I’d be handed over to the rubber plantation owners or fisheries boats and be made a slave. Then, it’d be the end of my life. But, there are some brokers who are working honestly for their survival. If there is no broker in smuggling borders, how can we go back home? We don’t know the way. We could be arrested by Malaysian police on the way to smuggle through Malaysia-Thai border. Suppose we could fortunately and safely smuggle into Thailand from Malaysia, we could possibly arrested by the Thai police when we pass the check points on the way to Mae Sot. It is not easy as we think to smuggle a border illegally. Because of those reasons, we have to contact the brokers. As for me, my trust was only on Buddha. Whatever happened to me, good or bad, depended on my Karma what I did in the past. I kept the teachings of Buddha in the deepest level of my heart. If I didn’t die on the way, I’d arrive at home. That’s all I might think in current situation of mine. At about 12:30 noon, the Burmese broker brought me to nearby a Burmese restaurant and we waited for the two Malaysian brokers. At nearly 3 pm, the two Malaysian brokers drove a taxi toward the two of us. Then, the three brokers talked in Malay. I didn’t understand what they said. I told the Burmese broker that I could not pay all 800 Ringgits at once and I’d pay 400 Ringgits when I could smuggle into Thailand’s side, and then, I’d pay the rest amount of 400 Ringgits when I safely arrive in Mae Sot. But, the Burmese broker said that I could not do so and I had to pay all 800 ringgits to his brother who is a broker in Thailand’s side. He also said that he wanted me to trust him as he had cleared everything on the way. So, I had to agree with what he said. Then, I said “Good bye” to Burmese broker and got in taxi to go to Malaysia-Thai border with the two Malaysian brokers. As I could not speak Malay, I didn’t say anything and sat quietly along the way, thinking if it’d be okay when I arrived at the border. It was about 6 pm when we arrived in a village nearby the border (Malaysia’s side). The two brokers brought me up to a house of Malaysian farmer. The farmer and his family spoke to me in Malay. I said (in English) that I could not speak Malay. Then, they spoke in Thai. I said that I could understand a little bit what they said. But, I could not speak Thai, too. The two brokers handed me over the hands of Malaysian farmer and they turned back their way. A man who was supposed to be the son of farmer drove me to Malaysia-Thai border. When we arrived at the border, the son of Malaysian farmer handed me over to the hands of a Thai broker. The Thai broker picked me up by a motorbike. When we passed the border check point, the Thai police neglected the two of us as if they didn’t see that we were smuggled into Thailand illegally. The Thai broker transferred me to the hands of a Burmese broker whose brother was the broker in Penang whom I first met on the way. He asked me to pay him all 800 ringgits. I paid him all amount of money. I thought that he’d allowed me to sleep in his house for the night. But, he said, “You don’t have to sleep in my house tonight. I’ll drive you up to the place where you have to sleep. Get on the motorbike.” Then, he drove motorbike in high speed and we arrived at a building that was supposed to be an office in a few minutes. Later, I knew that the building was the Thai immigration office. There was a lock-up cell in the Thai immigration office. I saw Burmese people who would return their home were in cell. There were about fifty Burmese. “You have to sleep in this cell tonight,” said the broker. “They are also going back to Burma like you. The truck that goes to Mae Sot comes on every other day. The truck came to immigration cell in this morning. So, it’ll come here the day after tomorrow, then, you have to set forth to Mae Sot by the truck. I often come here. Don’t worry. I’ll bring water tomorrow, the next morning.” Then, he left. I felt something as I had never been in the jail or cell in my life. Simultaneously, I think that I accepted the situation as I wanted to go back home. Then, the feeling calmed down. While my mind was racing, a Mon broker opened the cell’s door so that I could enter into which. I did as he asked me to. The bad smell welcomed me as soon as I entered into the cell. I saw men, pregnant women and the women with the children. Some children were only two or three years of age. It was very hot in the

crowd. The cell was very noisy with the voice of crying children and chattering. Some were Mon and Burmese and I saw some of Karen and Chin, too. I took a glance over all the places in the jail and looked for a place for my back as I knew that I had to spend for three days and two nights there. Then, I found a space near the window that was good enough for me to spend for the two nights there. I spread my longyi (most of Burmese men wear longyi instead of pant or jeans trousers) on the cement floor. After a few minutes, a Burmese broker and Thai staff entered into the cell and took us pictures. We had to fill the forms and press finger prints on which, to be deported to Burma. Now, my anxiety had disappeared as I was with the people who are in the same situation with me. I talked with three boys who were supposed to be about twenty five. They said that they worked in Malaysia for five years and they had been in that cell for one week. And they also told me that they had already paid all the money to the brokers in Kuala Lumpur to be deported to Burma. As their broker in KL had not given the specific amount of money to the hands of the brokers who were working with the Thai immigration officers in Thai-Malaysia border, the Thai immigration officers had not transferred them to the hands of another brokers who would transferred them into the Thai immigration in Mae Sot. So, the boys had been detained in the cell for such a long time. When they called the broker’s number in KL, he didn’t answer the phone. The boys told me all about their situation with sad faces and I knew that the boys were cheated by the broker in KL. But, I didn’t tell them all about that as I didn’t want them to be shocked. I, myself, was so sad to know all about their situation. If they encountered such a problem, I would be able to help them. But, for now, I was in the same situation with others who were being detained in the cell and would be deported to Burma. In the next morning, the broker who brought me into the cell brought a bottle of drinking water and a box of fried rice. If I compared him with the other brokers, he was better than others. The jail authorities also fed us three meals per day. The curry was only soup, mixed with the cucumber and gourd and a boiled duck egg. The rice was packed in a plastic bag. We had to eat the same curry in every meal. Some people could buy fried rice and some other better food from outside as they could save some amount of money before they planned to go back home in Burma. They could ask someone outside to buy food from outside. The one helped them buy food from outside, but the detainees had to give him some extra money for his service. There were some other mobile food stalls outside the window. I still left forty five Malaysian ringgits (about US$12), and some coins in my pocket. I bought Thai papaya salad and sticky rice through iron bars of the window. I remembered the days when I ate papaya salad and Thai noodle soup with the children when I worked as a volunteer in children’s home in Thai-Burma border in 2005. I took a bath in the bathroom as my whole body was sweating and I got bad smell. But, there was no soap. The bathroom was built together with toilet. I had to breathe the bad smell of toilet and there was no cup to take water from the tank. But, I could use the cup in the toilet if I wanted. I didn’t know how the other detainees took a bath and which cup they used when they did. So, I asked the mobile food stall owner outside the window for an empty drinking water bottle made of plastic. I asked her to cut the bottle from the middle part. She gave it to me through the window. Then, I could use the bottom part of the bottle as a cup when I took a bath. But, I didn’t have any soap. Anyway, I was fresh as I could take a bath. By this way, I had stayed in the Thai immigration cell for three days and two nights. In the afternoon of the third day, a broker came into the cell and called each of our names. He asked us to stand the lines. Some detainees asked him if their name were written in the list. I saw that the three boys were also asking about it to the broker in whose hands was the list of detainees who would be deported soon. The broker said with a loud voice, “Is there anybody here whom the broker Ko Myo brought?” The detainees who were done by broker Ko Myo raised their hands. Then, the broker checked the listed detainees one by one. My name also was in the list. The three boys encouraged me, “Don’t worry, brother. You’ll have to go together those people and be deported soon.” I asked them if their names were listed to be deported and they said, “No.” I was very sorry to hear about that. The brokers and the immigration authorities separated the detainees into two groups – whose names were listed to be deported and whose were not. The broker collected 200 Baht from each detainee. He said that the collected money would be used to buy food on the way. We had to stand the lines and were asked to get

on a truck. The truck had good ventilation. I was thinking about the 54 Burmese victims who died in the enclosed truck when they smuggled to southern Thailand from Burma in April, 2008. It was an international headline and caught international interest. According to a man who could read Thai letters in our group, the Thai letter, meaning “The Thai Immigration” was written on two sides of the truck and we didn’t need to worry about the police in checked points. I counted all the people on the truck. Totally, there were sixty five people who would be deported to Burma. It had already been about seven o’clock in the evening when the truck started to leave the immigration cell. The driver also drove the truck non-stop on the way. At about 10 pm at night, the driver stopped the truck near a seven eleven shop. He gave us a pack of food each. I opened the paper in which rice and curry was packed. The curry was the same like we ate in the immigration cell. None of us complained about that although we had paid even 200 Baht for food on the way. Instead, we ate all the food as we were hungry so much. We all were also very excited to be deported to and arrived in our land safely. Then, the driver started the journey again and drove the car non-stop through the whole night. At about seven o’clock in the next morning, a pregnant woman in our group could not resist her abdominal pain and she asked us to ask the driver to stop the car. We strongly beat the truck’s frame from behind so that the driver could hear us and stop the car. We were very lucky as some people in our group could speak Thai. The driver stopped the car near a petrol shop. He contacted to a hospital. After a few minutes, an ambulance arrived at where the truck stopped. The doctors and nurses checked the pregnant women and they said that the baby in uterus had died. The woman was to stay at the hospital for necessary treatment. But, we all had to wait until our driver received a recommendation letter from the medical superintendent. The letter was to show in the Thai immigration office in Mae Sot. When the driver brought sixty five people on the truck and now, one would be left at the hospital. He’d be able to transfer only sixty four of us to the hands of Thai immigration office in Mae Sot. That’s why he needed to bring a recommendation letter from the medical superintendent. The sister of the woman in our group was also pregnant. She cried with a loud voice as she was sorry for her sister and also worried about miscarriage like her sister. The other women together persuaded her and she stopped crying. The truck, on which sixty four Burmese were brought, set forth on it journey and it arrived in Mae Sot, the township that lied on Thai-Burma border, at 7 pm. The truck stopped at the Mae Sot immigration. We all had to sleep in Mae Sot immigration cell for one night. In the next early morning, the immigration officer asked us to stand the lines and we had to press fingers print. At the mean time, a Burmese broker woman who was supposed to have a good relationship with the Thai immigration officials came to us and she said that we were going to be deported to the hands of Developed Karen Buddhist Association (DKBA) battalion in Burma’s side. (DKBA and the Burmese battalion together are now fighting against KNU in Thai-Burma border and because of whose battles, more than 3, 000 Karen villagers have recently fled to Thailand.) According to the woman broker, DKBA would check us and they would keep all our mobile phones and cameras when they found. So, we all kept all our cameras and phones in the hands of the broker. She said that she’d return us all our phones and cameras after passing the DKBA check point. Then, we all were locked in the Thai immigration police truck and deported on the bank of Thaung Yin River which separates Thailand and Burma. A boat man that was to be believed a DKBA soldier was ready on the boat, waiting for us to bring to the Burma’s side. We all got on the boat and the man rowed the boat. By this way, we all were deported to Burma. Return to Home Land (Part II) to continue…………………. To read more articles and news: Please visit: http://kyawtheinkha.blogspot.com (Burmese version) http://kyawtheinkha-en.blogspot.com (English version)